The train squealed to a stop and a hiss rose from the tracks, signaling that the doors were about to open. Tracy turned her attention from the window and watched the passengers as they ambled on from the platform and found their seats. A short, sprightly looking woman in her mid 60s sat in one of the seats across from Tracy, placing several red plastic bags on the floor between her feet. They met each others’ eyes and Tracy smiled, then shyly turned her gaze back to the window.

A few stops passed and people came and went. A tired looking man with paint stains up and down his jeans found his way to the seat next to the older woman, and immediately closed his eyes. Three stops later, and he was fast asleep. Tracy sat studying the ads above the woman’s head several times over to avoid unnecessary eye contact. Eventually, she let her eyes drift down to eye level with the woman once again, and saw that the sleeping man had nestled comfortably into her shoulder. The woman looked at Tracy and giggled softly. Her eyes crinkled as she smiled, then she raised an eyebrow and gave the man a sideways glance.

Tracy laughed, and waved her hands out in front of her as though she was laying out a blanket, almost as if to say “let him sleep.” The woman nodded to her and grinned, putting one hand over heart in sympathy for the hard-working man. Then her mouth opened slightly in sudden realization, she pointed towards the window with a quizzical look. She looked at the man, then looked at Tracy and pointed at the window again, tilting her head questioningly. Tracy tensed her brows, then softened them in understanding and shrugged her shoulders. The two women looked at each other, wondering how the sleeping man might know when to get off.

The woman nudged the man gently with the shoulder he was resting on, then cleared her throat. The man would not budge. Tracy leaned forward and clapped her hands, then said “yo!”

The man woke up startled, glanced out around and then out the window. He exclaimed what could only be a curse word in a language neither Tracy nor the woman seemed to understand, then ran off the train the moment the doors flew open at the next stop. The woman said something to Tracy that she didn’t understand, and then grinned and gave her a thumbs up. Tracy smiled and put one hand over her heart.