WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:07.960 I retired before I meant to the rhythm of a 2 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.679 train line gets in your blood, same as salt and 3 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:14.199 old habits. After thirty seven years riding the pinefalk to 4 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:18.760 Heather's crossing stretch, rumble, screech, whistle, sway. I used to 5 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:21.280 tell myself i'd work my last run when the line 6 00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:24.440 itself wore thin into the pines. But the arthritis in 7 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:27.399 my hands wrote a quicker timetable. So now I live 8 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:30.199 in a cottage with peeling yellow trim, just where the 9 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:34.560 river bends tracks humming through the night. Most mornings, the 10 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:38.280 light's slow to come, a damp Pacific mist drifting through 11 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:41.159 fur branches, and a feeling that the world's still thinking 12 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:44.399 it over before committing to a shape. I like that. 13 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:48.240 Some say you've got to learn to love indeterminacy in retirement. 14 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:51.640 Me I just missed the familiar discipline of checking my 15 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:55.600 watch against the station's big wall clock, timing arrivals and 16 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:59.079 departures down to the minute, listening for the subtle difference 17 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:03.039 in a good engine ears throttle hand. These days, I 18 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:06.120 keep my old Elgin pocket watch in a drawer beside 19 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:08.760 the bed, though sometimes I'll slip it in a vest 20 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:12.680 pocket accidentally. When I go out into town. There are 21 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:16.239 routines you leave behind and some you carry with you. 22 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:20.319 You can guess which sort I favor. Last November, my 23 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:23.280 knees feeling mostly reliable and the air sharp with the 24 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:26.159 promise of rain, I decided to buy myself a round 25 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:30.319 trip ride, just for nostalgia's sake, I told Alice, who'd 26 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:33.640 taken over as conductor when I left. Alice's laugh is 27 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:36.680 a little too quick, and her uniform always has patches 28 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:39.680 in fresh places, but she brings a certain lightness to 29 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:42.519 the work. Come to see if I'm running a tighter 30 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:45.879 ship than you did, Walt, she asked, half smirking as 31 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:50.120 she clipped my ticket. You're getting there, I allowed, and 32 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:53.640 she winked. Don't fall asleep in my car unless you 33 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:56.959 want to wake up in a different century. The train's 34 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:00.599 route is short, as these things go from Pinefork six 35 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:04.480 thousand Souls, a tangle of vintage store fronts and mossy yards, 36 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:07.799 up through a horseshoe of forest, then skirting a handful 37 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:10.840 of towns before easing into Heather's Crossing, where the river 38 00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:14.120 goes broad and silty and the lumber money peters out 39 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:17.039 three hours, give or take a minute or two for 40 00:02:17.159 --> 00:02:20.199 weather or a lingering late comer. I could recite the 41 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:23.759 sequence of stops in my sleep. Sometimes I think I did. 42 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:27.439 Tradition holds you shouldn't ride your own line as a 43 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:30.919 passenger the first year you retire, But I'd waited my 44 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:33.879 due time and made the excuse that if any one 45 00:02:33.879 --> 00:02:37.879 noticed me fussing, I was just checking up on alice. 46 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:40.120 That morning, the car had a trace of wood smoke 47 00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:43.840 and stale popcorn, the seats springier than I recalled. A 48 00:02:43.879 --> 00:02:48.280 confused gold retriever hopped clumsily between compartments, getting a scolding 49 00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:51.520 pat from Old Joe, a fisherman whose beard always sprouted 50 00:02:51.560 --> 00:02:55.759 November like clockwork. Sarah, a commuter who teaches math at 51 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:58.759 the high school, had a stack of grading on her lap. 52 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:03.479 I settled in notebook discreetly tucked beside me. Old conductor's 53 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:07.199 badge cupped in my palm for luck. The train trundled 54 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:10.879 out into drizzle, slow at first, then gathering confidence. Past 55 00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:13.719 the edge of town. I watched the trees roll by 56 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:17.879 familiar shapes, curves, a creosote whiff that said yard work 57 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:20.360 from the siding. I meant to lose myself in the 58 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:23.280 memory of it. But half way through, just past the 59 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:27.039 old logging spur, a small itch surfaced, a sense that 60 00:03:27.080 --> 00:03:30.000 the trip felt well, thick somehow, as if there were 61 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:33.680 a weight in the motion. I palmed my watch, careful 62 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:36.840 to keep it hidden. Two hours and we'd only passed 63 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:41.120 the half way station, Lars's outpost boards pealing the same 64 00:03:41.159 --> 00:03:44.680 stash of wild apples on the platform. Alice wasn't flagging 65 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:48.960 any delays, but something wasn't adding up. After another forty minutes, 66 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:53.560 the scenery remained unchanged, still furs, still the wide sweep 67 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:56.439 of that nameless pond, and yet by rights we should 68 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:00.599 have crossed two more stops. Finally, the train hosted into 69 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:03.520 Heather's crossing with a sharpness that said the engineer was 70 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:07.439 making up time. I checked the clocks, almost four hours. 71 00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:11.560 Clocks always ran a hair slow here town custom, but 72 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:16.040 not this slow. I glanced around for alarm. None, No 73 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:19.240 one seemed even mildly put out. Alice jotted something on 74 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:23.360 a clipboard, not noticing. Sarah stretched her arms, yawning theatrically. 75 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:27.040 Joe complained about fishing luck, not the schedule. I stood 76 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:29.759 in the vestibule, watching drizzlebead the window and felt a 77 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:33.279 tiny electric jolt chase up my spine had I dozed 78 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:35.720 off and missed a swath of track. Looking back at 79 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:39.920 my scratch pad, stop scenery, stop station name, I couldn't 80 00:04:39.959 --> 00:04:43.439 find a disruption. I stepped off into the wet and 81 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:46.959 let the door hiss shut behind me. The rails hummed 82 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:49.600 as the train prepared for the return trip, and the 83 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:53.480 platform clock ticked toward noon. By rights, we should have 84 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:56.839 arrived at eleven. But by rights, a lot of things 85 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:00.639 ought to be different. That's how it began, not with 86 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:03.439 a mystery, not with a flash of insight, but with 87 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:07.040 a quiet, nagging need to understand why a journey I 88 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:10.040 thought I knew inside out could stretch by an hour, 89 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:14.519 with every outward sign unchanged. I thought about that extra 90 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:17.920 hour all the way home. I replayed each moment. No 91 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:22.120 sudden stops, no announcements, no delays loading cargo or pausing 92 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:25.519 for people. The rain never grew heavier, The river had 93 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:30.000 swelled and slid past as usual, No high water, nothing impassable. 94 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.959 When I tried to shake off the feeling, a stubborn 95 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.240 logic insisted. With no gap in the movement, Where did 96 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:40.600 that time go my routine became a little unsettled. I 97 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:43.879 found myself thinking of the ride over morning coffee, poking 98 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:46.240 at it with the edge of my mind. You'd be 99 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:49.079 surprised how much of a conductor's life is about time, 100 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:53.040 obsessing over it, courting it, cussing at it under your breath. 101 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:56.800 Mostly you think there's nothing to it except good track 102 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:59.839 and a steady hand. But sitting at my kitchen table, 103 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:02.879 listening to the far off groan of the rails, I 104 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:06.560 wondered if that was ever really true. The tracks out 105 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:09.920 my window shimmered with the drizzle, a silent promise of order. 106 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:13.959 When I'd first moved here decades ago, married and hopeful, 107 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:17.480 I memorized the whole line, a surveyor's urge, kicking in 108 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:21.160 every time I walked the trail with a notepad. These woods, 109 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:24.879 these sudden gullies and ravines, the mad tangle of BlackBerry 110 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:28.319 above the siding, all reel, all fixed, or so I 111 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:32.639 de thought I'd retired early, but I hadn't left it behind. 112 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:36.040 Every Monday I'd ambled down to the yard and trade 113 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:39.319 news with Lars, the barrel chested station master with a 114 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:42.639 weak spot for walnut fudge. When Alice took over my 115 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:45.920 old post, we kept up our banter. She'd tease me 116 00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:48.519 about my fussy notes and the way I'd correct her 117 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:52.360 on whistle signals. Why don't you just ride Walt remind 118 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:55.560 your knees how much they liked to ache. I'd do 119 00:06:55.639 --> 00:06:58.920 it sometimes as an excuse to linger near old co workers, 120 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:01.360 or to chat with Sarah, who could turn a train 121 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:04.680 delay into a math lesson for rowdy tenth graders. And 122 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:07.279 then there was old Joe, who claimed he could smell 123 00:07:07.319 --> 00:07:10.120 salmon in the river two towns over and always boarded 124 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:13.959 with a dented lunch pale. Luke, the teenager, with his 125 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:18.800 inherited basketball jersey and a quiet, restless energy, often rode 126 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:22.720 home late after practice, legs splayed over his battered backpack. 127 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:26.279 The route was as familiar to me as my own hands. 128 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:30.240 Pine Fork to Heather's Crossing, passing a blinknd miss hamlet 129 00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:33.879 called Carter Spur, the logging depot at Walker's Mill, and 130 00:07:33.959 --> 00:07:38.879 Lars's Post at midtown. Rituals anchored every ride, Coffee from 131 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:42.480 the cart, tickets waved at Alice, and the soft rumble 132 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:45.000 when you crossed the moscoated trestle in the heart of 133 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:49.759 the pines. Even after retirement, I kept my surveying maps, 134 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:53.560 yellowed root pamphlets, and a collection of train tickets tucked 135 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:56.879 into a shoe box. I'd ride the line every November, 136 00:07:57.079 --> 00:08:00.560 an old promise to my late wife, remind my the 137 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:03.639 system could run without me, and that comfort did not 138 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:07.920 require control. But this, this odd expansion of the route 139 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:10.560 ate at me in places I thought immune to puzzling. 140 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:13.759 Was I getting forgetful? Maybe I'd lost my knack for 141 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:17.360 numbers or mist A stop somewhere in Reverie one year, 142 00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:20.279 a surveyor friend rode the loop with me, measuring every 143 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:24.160 stretch with a calm confidence only civil engineers possess. He 144 00:08:24.199 --> 00:08:29.079 pronounced it forty four point seven miles, a clean run. Congrats, Walt, 145 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:32.960 and swigged his coffee. That's when I began tagging the 146 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:36.799 trip out of habit, comparing my times with the posted schedules, 147 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:41.919 and up to now finding only small discrepancies. After that 148 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:45.559 puzzling journey, I told myself to let it go. The world, 149 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:49.679 I reasoned, was full of trivial mysteries, missing socks, unexpected 150 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:52.679 traffic jams, the way rain fell softer this side of 151 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:56.039 the river. But some habits are stronger than reason. I 152 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:59.960 grew uneasy in the evenings, measuring the minutes between passing trains, 153 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:03.799 keeping watch out my kitchen window. If something was changing, 154 00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:07.279 If the reliable stretch of iron was no longer so reliable, 155 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:11.360 I would know. Two days later I decided to test it. 156 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:14.159 I left my cottage for the station, under a sky 157 00:09:14.279 --> 00:09:16.720 the color of old pewter, a hush on the air 158 00:09:16.759 --> 00:09:20.000 that made my footsteps sound loud against the brick walks. 159 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:23.159 I bought my ticket at the counter, smiling at the 160 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:28.279 agent's puzzled look. Back again so soon, mister Mason. As 161 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:30.559 I waited on the platform, I made a point of 162 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:34.080 noting the clock behind the counter. The hands agreed with 163 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:37.480 my own watch, which I had serviced last year. No 164 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:42.440 excuses for malfunction, Alice grinned as I boarded, clicking her 165 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:46.440 punch along the string of new passengers. Don't tell me 166 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:50.799 you missed me already, Walt, I'm running a personal experiment, 167 00:09:51.080 --> 00:09:55.759 I said, Observation day for the old guard. She deadpanned, 168 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:58.360 So long as you don't try to drive from your seat, 169 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:02.799 Then she added, half joking, careful, or you'll get stuck 170 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:06.200 on the never ending loop. We pulled out under curtain 171 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:11.519 of mist. I counted every stop, every whistle. Alice seemed unhurried, 172 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.600 moving up and down the cars, chatting about the parade 173 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:17.639 coming to Pine Fork next week, the way Sarah had 174 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:21.360 braided her hair this time. But part way through, just 175 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:24.440 after the third stop, I started to feel something was off. 176 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:28.440 The train glided through familiar curves and the trees peeled past, 177 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:31.159 but the station seemed to arrive more quickly than my 178 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:34.840 gut expected. I peered out the window for landmarks, the 179 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:38.200 overturned log, the shack with the painted fish sign, the 180 00:10:38.279 --> 00:10:41.440 three pines in a perfect line, and all arrived, but 181 00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:45.000 too soon, like a flickering film cut a few frames short. 182 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:49.000 When we reached Heathers Crossing, I checked the platform clock. 183 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:52.480 Barely an hour and fifty minutes had passed since departure, 184 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:56.000 not three, and certainly not four as had slipped by before. 185 00:10:56.600 --> 00:10:59.919 For a second, I questioned my own eyes. Alice was 186 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:03.919 chatting with the engineer, unruffled. No one seemed in a rush. 187 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:07.879 I asked the ticket agent as I disembarked, did we 188 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:11.879 leave on time? He checked his register? Nine fifteen sharp 189 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:15.039 got you here early, good day. For the schedule, I 190 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:18.519 handed him my stub. Printed on it in faint blue type, 191 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:24.039 was the duration trip duration one fifty five. Two days earlier, 192 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:28.440 my ticket had shown trip duration three fifty seven. I 193 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:31.279 kept both tucked in my palm, comparing them under the 194 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:34.559 gray light. No difference in price, no hint of a 195 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:38.080 special run or all. Turn it root. When I brought 196 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:41.080 it up with Alice, her auntswer flitted by like a swallow. 197 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:44.840 The time's always whatever's on the ticket, unless I'm late 198 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:48.639 for lunch, she added. Schedules are just paper. Get you 199 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:52.960 where you're going, that's the important part. I tried to laugh, 200 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:55.799 but the urge stuck in my throat. The trip was 201 00:11:55.879 --> 00:11:59.080 faster than ever, but the outside world, the stretch of 202 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:02.679 trees and glassancing reflection of the pond, had never switched. 203 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.679 I asked Alice if the engineer had sped up. She shrugged, 204 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:11.240 feet on the pedal, one speed. All morning, standing on 205 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:14.679 the platform, I tried to root out some reasonable explanation, 206 00:12:15.159 --> 00:12:19.440 track maintenance, a change in crew, a bypassed stop, but 207 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:23.519 the numbers weren't on my side. Every inherited instinct told 208 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:26.919 me either. My memory was failing the clocks had gone 209 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:29.639 to mischief, or some quiet core of the line had 210 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:33.639 loosened its hold on reality. Back at home, I laid 211 00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:37.879 out my findings, two tickets, both official printing two durations 212 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:41.279 for the same journey, platform clocks solidly in agreement with 213 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:44.799 each other. Pocket watch ticking as it should. I paced 214 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:48.320 the kitchen, counting steps, heart nudging faster. The more I 215 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:53.919 ran through events I considered, sleep, deprivation, cholesterol, medication. All 216 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:57.679 came up empty. To be thorough, I checked the physical 217 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:01.440 timetable posted at the PINEFK station. There, clear as the 218 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:04.120 thunder clouds in March was a print out showing the 219 00:13:04.200 --> 00:13:08.320 ride as a prox two zero zero each way. I 220 00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:11.039 fished from the pocket of my vest an earlier time table, 221 00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:16.120 same schedule, trips daily average duration of pros three zero 222 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:20.039 zero each way. No one I questioned seemed to notice 223 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:23.919 the discrepancy. When I flagged down Alice in the staff 224 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.840 lounge to show her, she squinted at the slips and 225 00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:30.799 tapped her pencil on the edge of the table. Different seasons. 226 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:33.440 Sometimes we run slow for leaves on the line. That 227 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.799 sort of thing never hurts to pad the schedule. People 228 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:40.559 hate to see late on the board. She grinned, swung 229 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:43.240 her feet up on the seat opposite, and said, Walt, 230 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:46.799 I think you're fussing just to keep us honest. A 231 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:49.879 soft feeling of doubt began gnawing in my mind. Had 232 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:53.320 I been inattentive, let the old nerves take over. But 233 00:13:53.399 --> 00:13:57.000 a quick flip through my note book, dates, times, sequence 234 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:00.159 of stops showed there were no gaps in my recording. 235 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:04.200 Every step seemed clean. I would have forgotten the whole 236 00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:07.679 thing if my notes had fallen apart. Instead, the more 237 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:11.840 I poured over them, the sharper the contradiction became. Nothing 238 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:15.240 in my memory or the world outside explained how a 239 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:19.039 journey could stretch or contract by entire hours, while the 240 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:23.240 train's pace and the landscape outside seemed as unswerving as ever. 241 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:27.440 I made a decision I would test it one last time, 242 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:30.919 different hour, different crew, if possible, and with the most 243 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:35.000 obsessive note taking of my life. That morning, a low 244 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:38.559 fog hung over the siding, cotton thick and silent. The 245 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:42.080 train creaked up to the platform, engine heat shimmering in 246 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:46.399 the chill. Alice wasn't on the manifest. A temporary replacement, 247 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:50.600 Reggie Tall and wooly browed greeted me with a nod. 248 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:54.799 Back again, He asked, squinting, you logging these rides for 249 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:59.879 posterity something like that, I replied, how many times do? 250 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:03.600 As the line run to day usual three each way 251 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:06.960 should be a straight forward run unless the trees start 252 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:12.120 growing sideways. He winked, and I almost laughed. I selected 253 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:15.679 a new seat, no distractions. My watch was synchronized with 254 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:20.200 the station clock, my notebook open, pen poised, the car filled, 255 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:23.840 Sarah grading again, Joe talking bait with the woman across 256 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:27.720 the aisle, three teen girls hunched over headphones. I made 257 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:32.320 sure to note every landmark, every station buzz. The train 258 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:35.559 rolled out slow, trailing a scarf of smoke along the 259 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:39.360 wet rails. The sequence outside was as familiar as a 260 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:44.000 family recipe. Carter Spur's battered sign, the sharp escurve past 261 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:48.159 BlackBerry Lane, the slan troofed barn that always threatened collapse 262 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:52.320 but never quite surrendered. But as we passed Lars's station, 263 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:56.360 I glanced at my watch even slower than before. We'd 264 00:15:56.360 --> 00:15:59.559 spent over two and a half hours before even reaching Midtown. 265 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:03.039 By the time we coasted into Heather's crossing the sky 266 00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:06.240 gone from fog to slate. The trip had eaten more 267 00:16:06.279 --> 00:16:10.320 than five hours. All the platform clocks and Reggie's print 268 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:15.039 out agreed arrival time four thirty two. My ticket again 269 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:19.879 read trip duration five nineteen. My note book, trembling slightly 270 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:22.240 in my hand, was filled with a minute by minute 271 00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:25.759 log that showed no extra stops, just a slow, even 272 00:16:25.879 --> 00:16:29.320 ride through the same countryside, but stretched like music played 273 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:33.240 at half speed. When the passengers filed off, not one 274 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:38.240 seemed frazzled, just an ordinary ride. Even Sarah, clutching her 275 00:16:38.279 --> 00:16:42.320 stack of unmarked quizzes tighter than usual, only muttered lost 276 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:46.720 the afternoon somehow, as the platform emptied, I caught up 277 00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:50.879 with Lars, the station master, his red vest unusually crisp. 278 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:54.519 I asked him how long the ride had been. He 279 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:57.360 considered it for a second, as if checking the answer 280 00:16:57.399 --> 00:17:00.279 in the air just takes as long as it takes. 281 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:04.880 He decided, voice cheerful. Some days time's thick. You'll get 282 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:07.880 used to it, Walt. He clapped me on the back 283 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:12.400 and retreated into his office, humming something off key. I waited, 284 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:15.240 running my hands over the cold metal of the railing, 285 00:17:15.640 --> 00:17:18.519 hoping for some sign that he was levitating between joke 286 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:21.640 and confession. But apart from a light wind and the 287 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.960 distant bleat of a logging truck, there was ordinary life 288 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:30.079 unfolding without hurry. I wondered, had I become blinkered by 289 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:34.000 my own obsessions? Was I missing some obvious solution, like 290 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:38.480 a magician's misdirection. The question itched all through supper and 291 00:17:38.599 --> 00:17:42.880 nagged into the next morning. At sunrise, coffee growing cold, 292 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:45.079 as I stared at my log book, I made up 293 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:48.720 my mind I'd seek out a second opinion. I found 294 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:51.640 Sarah at her usual breakfast spot, next to a cramped 295 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:56.519 cafe window, dressed with faded nautical flags. She smiled when 296 00:17:56.519 --> 00:17:59.799 she spotted me, Mason. I heard, you're doing your own 297 00:17:59.880 --> 00:18:03.839 versus of groundhog Day on the line. I told her 298 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:08.200 my theory, duration shifting, the ride swelling long or short 299 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:12.759 with no apparent pattern. She grinned, brushing biscuit crumbs off 300 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:15.400 her sleeve. You know, when I was a kid, the 301 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:19.119 trip always seemed to last forever. Sometimes I'd fall asleep 302 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:22.440 and wake up convinced we'd cross the state border by accident. 303 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:26.279 She shook her head. I figured it was childhood kid's 304 00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:29.599 sense of time. You know. I asked if she'd ever 305 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:34.440 checked her watch or looked for official travel times sometimes, 306 00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:37.559 she said, pulling out her phone. Honestly, I just rely 307 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.160 on the app for train info. Some days I swear 308 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:42.640 the trips only an hour. Others I miss half my 309 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:46.279 prep period for no reason, she tapped quickly. We get 310 00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:49.839 the occasional complaint about trained delays, but mostly people just 311 00:18:49.880 --> 00:18:53.160 look up the posted times. Her look here. Last week 312 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:57.160 average trip was two hours and thirty this week over three. 313 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:02.720 Sarah scrolled further, frowning. You know the online schedules changed 314 00:19:02.759 --> 00:19:05.839 three times this month. I'd noticed the difference but thought 315 00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:09.359 it was just schedule tweaking. Feels like an it glitch, 316 00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:12.519 But every other bus or ferry is the same, she 317 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:17.759 laughed softer. Now, maybe rural time just slipped sideways. Sometimes 318 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:21.079 it was meant as a joke, but the phrase wouldn't 319 00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:24.920 leave me. I jotted it in my margins, underlining it twice, 320 00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:29.839 sideways time. As unscientific as it sounded, it fit better 321 00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:34.319 than any other explanation I'd heard. After breakfast, I lingered 322 00:19:34.359 --> 00:19:37.519 in the station lobby, leafing through old and new pamphlets, 323 00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:42.359 train maps, faded time tables, glossy tourist brochures, each one 324 00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:45.519 with a different shape for the route. Some were textbook clear, 325 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:50.400 a curved horseshoe the logical arrangement. Others, drawn with more exuberance, 326 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:53.880 showed the train line looping back over itself, an improbable 327 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:56.920 not On one, the shadow of the track cut across 328 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:02.440 rivers that in reality ran impassable, looked closely, and alternative 329 00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:05.440 lines were drawn in pencil, as if some one in 330 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:09.640 authority had second guessed the surveyors but neglected to erase 331 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:14.519 the evidence. Pulling out my phone, I flipped between digital maps. 332 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:19.200 Some days, satellite images revealed an unbroken arc through the trees. 333 00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:22.759 On others, the river crossing was missing, or a side 334 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:26.880 track appeared where no bridge ever stood. I squinted, half, 335 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:29.200 expecting to find I had lost my grip on which 336 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:32.839 day was which. On a particularly bold map from the 337 00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:38.200 nineteen seventies, bright colors fading under lamination, the route doubled 338 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:41.599 back near the Midtown station, looping the same segment of 339 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:45.559 forest twice. I made notes. Then, out of a stubborn 340 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:50.160 desire for order, land marks tallied stops listed in sequence, 341 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:54.079 sketches for the more remarkable trees and outbuildings. If the 342 00:20:54.119 --> 00:20:57.440 scenery changed, I would see it. If the order shifted, 343 00:20:57.559 --> 00:21:01.599 I would have proof. Afternoon stillness gave way to the 344 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:05.480 gentle tremor of another departure. I held my notebook tight, 345 00:21:05.880 --> 00:21:09.079 boarding with a sense of mission, eyes sharp for anything 346 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:12.599 out of place. I chose a new seat, still on 347 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:15.000 the right side, but one car back from my usual. 348 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:18.720 As we rolled out, I logged each detail. A twisted 349 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:22.480 Douglas fir with two trunks, a pond half concealed by reeds, 350 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:26.519 a billboard faded always for a lost farm dog named Chester, 351 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:30.039 than the trestle bridge, that spider webbed above the shaded gully. 352 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.640 I watched the people outside my window, A man mending 353 00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:36.799 a fence, a girl flying a red kite, a blue 354 00:21:36.839 --> 00:21:41.480 truck idling where the logging road crossed the rails. Hours passed, 355 00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:45.480 the wheels humming their lullaby. I checked each landmark in sequence, 356 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:48.599 each exactly where it ought to be. The trip again 357 00:21:48.680 --> 00:21:52.559 stretched long, over four hours this time, but nothing altered 358 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:55.920 in the world outside. No new paint on the billboard, 359 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:59.799 no weeds overtaking the fence, no sun bleached plastic on 360 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:04.279 the dashboard of that blue truck. Trying not to sound ridiculous, 361 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:07.359 I asked Alice, who was back on duty. How come 362 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:10.640 the billboard for that dog never changes? It's been there 363 00:22:10.680 --> 00:22:14.400 for years. The same shadows scratched the sign at exactly 364 00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:18.480 the same spot. She smiled, as if I'd complimented her 365 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:22.000 on some minor virtue. That's just chester. He's a piece 366 00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:25.480 of the landscape. Now. She gave the word landscape a 367 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:28.960 little lilt, as if it meant something more. Then she added, 368 00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:32.920 some things always stay the same. It occurred to me 369 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:35.920 then that my problem might not be with clocks or tickets, 370 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:39.119 but with the land itself. If I was always seeing 371 00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:42.640 the same, never aging scenery, regardless of how long the 372 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:46.680 trip took, had the landscape become unmoored from the expected world. 373 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:51.279 Was I moving through time differently? Or was geography itself changing, 374 00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:54.799 stretching or folding but only for us aboard the train. 375 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:57.839 I could no longer tell if I was searching for 376 00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:01.559 a solution or just circling the question. But the details 377 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:06.720 and contradictions kept stacking, each observation, disconnecting neatly from the next, 378 00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:11.400 like cars on a train sent down oddly diverging tracks. 379 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:15.119 That night, I called up an old trainman's story. When 380 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:19.119 I was first hired a senior engineer, a man named Guss, 381 00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:21.359 who claimed to have seen everything that could be seen 382 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:25.160 between Tacoma and Canada, once told me there's one run 383 00:23:25.240 --> 00:23:28.119 up here, Walt, where the train might loop so many 384 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:31.480 times you see yourself out the window. I'd laughed it 385 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:35.279 off as pure folklore. Railroad men love their tall tales. 386 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:39.000 But as I considered the impossibility of what I'd seen, 387 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:44.200 variable journeys, identical scenery, shifting maps, I felt a chill, 388 00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:47.440 not a fear, but of something like awe had I 389 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:51.720 dismissed a clue? I remembered too, a bit of Sailish 390 00:23:51.880 --> 00:23:56.440 oral tradition, though clumsily, stories about rivers that circled forever, 391 00:23:56.839 --> 00:23:59.559 leaving those who strayed onto their banks to loop until 392 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:03.519 you remambered where you'd begun. As a conductor, myth was 393 00:24:03.559 --> 00:24:05.400 something you packed away at the end of the day, 394 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:09.240 like a bench schedule or an off duty badge. Now 395 00:24:09.400 --> 00:24:12.000 I wondered if myth belonged closer to the mechanism of 396 00:24:12.039 --> 00:24:17.119 things than I'd ever allowed. I reviewed my findings every journey, 397 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:20.200 no matter whether it lasted two hours, four or five 398 00:24:20.680 --> 00:24:23.839 passed the same number and order of landmarks, with objects 399 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:28.720 and scenery completely unchanged in appearance. Tickets and posted schedules 400 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:31.759 flexed week to week, with platform clocks and my watch 401 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:36.039