Like a good little robot Aaron ran along the peer, trying to get on any of the cars of the subway that had a little free space. As soon as he got in there came along a big, blocky woman who slammed straight into him trying to wriggle her way in.

“Sorry. Excuse me. Thank you.” said the woman in what seemed like continuous word. Aaron analyzed the woman and saw the sweat beads crowding on her upper lip. They were fighting for territory with what seemed like a incipient bush of a moustache.

“You’re welcome.” he replied without any mental effort. The car was hot and humid. People were bunched together like cattle at all times. It was hard to ignore other people’s breaths on his skin. It gave him a feeling of uncleanliness.

The people in the car came in all shapes, sizes and from all social strata. From construction workers heading for their sites, to hookers going home for some rest, to failed business people dressed in three piece suits. All they had in common was a blank expression. Life had brought them to their knees in one way or another and had skull-fucked them until their brains turned to mush.

Aaron used to think he was special, he was going to do something big with his life. Not anymore. He realized he was just like the people he pitied. Life had broken and put him in chains too. Whether it was a child, bank payments, a cozy life, illness or any other way, life found a way to instill the fear of change, fear of losing that.

For a flickering moment Aaron thought he saw a man wearing a suit at the end of the car that had the the same exact smile as the homeless man in the train. “I must be exhausted,” he thought “I need a break. That’s it, a break. I’ll take the girls and go to the ocean this weekend. Beer and sun for two days should wash away all the shit.”

...to be continued...