Waving frantically at the streetcar, the young mother clutched a newborn to her chest as the streetcar rumbled past. The back of her tee-shirt said, “Your Mother is Dying for Love.”
“They don’t make unscheduled stops,” said a nearby voice. “It’s bad for business.”
Turning, she smiled sadly at the cab driver as a fare climbed into his cab. “Yes, I know. I’ve been trying to get unscheduled rides free of charge for the past several weeks.”
Slouched behind the wheel, he stared in confusion. Somehow he couldn’t make her out. At the same time, she seemed to be middle aged, old, and bursting with youth. He sat up and said, “You’ve been trying to catch a streetcar here for weeks? Where do you want to go?”
“No,” she said as the baby vanished. “I’ve been trying to ride buses, trains, streetcars, and taxis all over the world. I don’t want to go anywhere, because I’m already there. I’m just looking for kindness and a reason to hope. I’ve finally given up.”
“Hey! Where are you going?” he called as she began to fade into a dying tree.
“Nowhere,” she said. “The same as you.”
James Kelly is a former biotech writer and stem cells activist. Kelly lives in Manitou Springs, CO, where he pushes his wheelchair through the Garden of the Gods while composing scenes for his pro-environemental novel. A detailed introduction to James is available at: http://kellyintro.blogspot.com/
© 2008 James Kelly. Original for CCF (Kelly grants CCF first electronic rights for one month; CCF may archive the material indefinitely and include it in an eBook anthology).
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