It was snowing. I was waiting at the 110th Street subway station, when the token-booth clerk announced that power was out from Times Square to 137th. He had no idea when service would resume, and offered bus transfers. Most people left the station. I decided to wait. The bus takes forever.
Snow fell through the grating on the street above, drifted to the subway tracks, melted.
A man came out of the subway tunnel, climbed up on the platform, and walked to the exit. He was singing 'Walking in a Winter Wonderland.'
The train came. An old woman in the car was moaning loudly. Her voice was like civil war in a bat colony. She didn't seem to be in pain.
The train had gone two stops before I realized she was singing 'Gloria in Excelcis Deo'.
Copyright 1993 Edward Gaillard. All rights reserved.