The Commute

I got to combine two great prompts this week.  Studio 30 Plus gave us reckon and/or guess.  Katheryn Avila gave us the phrase “Better late than never” for her TuesFlashFicTrain prompt.  Here is my offering.  Be sure to check out other authors’ responses through the buttons below!

Sienna stumbled down the stairs.  She was late for work and panicked she would lose her job.  In her haste, she had not seen the man lurking in the shadows on the landing.  Sienna plunged by until she felt that hand on her shoulder.  Now she was paying for her impatience.

She ran out into the crowded street.  The press of bodies suffocated and liberated her.  She could get lost in the throng of people.  Drift on the tide of humanity until she could get away from him.  Yet, every touch, every bump, every stepped on foot made her heart dance an uncontrollable jig.

The press of people took her by the entrance to the subway system.  It was the best in the country.  The architects designed it so muggers had nowhere to hide.  With it being rush hour, Sienna knew the platforms and trains would be packed like sardines in a can.

At the turnstile, Sienna fumbled for her metro pass.  Several agonizing seconds passed before the recalcitrant pass emerged from her bag.  Sienna ran through the station and dove onto the eastbound train just as the doors hissed shut.  She turned and saw the man on the platform, watched him as the train rolled into the tunnel and he disappeared from sight.

Sienna made her way to work, knowing she would be called into her boss’s office for her tardiness.  She hoped he would believe her story.

“Better late than never, Miss Morineau.  I reckon there is a good explanation for this.  And for your disheveled appearance?”

“Mr. Sieverson.  I need help.  There was a man waiting in my stairwell.  I ran and got here as soon as I could.”

Mr. Sieverson arched an eyebrow at her.

“Please.  I left him on the platform at thirty-ninth and Osage.”

“And who is this man?”

“I have no idea.”

“Miss Morineau, the subway system has been shut down for years.  Why would you go down there?”