###¤§†:«,¨ ¨,«:†§¤###
¤¤†:,,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,,:†¤¤
#§†«¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨«†§#
#¤¤§†:,,,¨ ¨,,,:†§¤¤#
¤†«¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨«†¤
###¤§†:«,¨ Orange-Clad Train-Climber Crew, Moving ¨,«:†§¤###
¤¤†«¨¨¨¨¨¨ Along The Rusty Cargo Cars Like Some ¨¨¨¨¨¨«†¤¤
##¤¤§†:«,¨ Species Of Ferrophage Insect. Up And ¨,«:†§¤¤##
¤§§§§†:«,¨ Down The Train, Checking Bolts, Oiling ¨,«:†§§§§¤
¤§§§§†:«,¨ Joints, Drinking Coffee, Smoking ¨,«:†§§§§¤
###¤§†:«,¨ Cigarettes. ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ ############################## ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ ¨,«:†§¤###
#¤†««,¨¨¨¨ We Were Going South Through Finland At ¨¨¨¨,««†¤#
###¤§†:«,¨ The Time, Sleeping Close To The ¨,«:†§¤###
####¤§:«,¨ Furnace, Watching The Aurora borealis. ¨,«:§¤####
###¤§†:«,¨ Twenty-Something Members Of The Crew, ¨,«:†§¤###
####¤§:«,¨ Most Of Which Were Mechanics, Or ¨,«:§¤####
#¤§††«,,¨¨ Loaders, With Large And Hairy Hands ¨¨,,«††§¤#
###¤§†:«,¨ That Could Swallow My Entire Body. And ¨,«:†§¤###
¤†::::,¨¨¨ Me Featuring As The Cute And Asocial ¨¨¨,::::†¤
##§:::,,,¨ Radio Operator, Stationed In The Back ¨,,,:::§##
###¤§†:«,¨ Of The Kilometer-Long Train, Which ¨,«:†§¤###
#¤¤§†««,,¨ Served Me Good And Well. ¨,,««†§¤¤#
###¤§†:«,¨ ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ And Then One Night, There'S A Missile. ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ We Would Routinely Pick Up New Cars At ¨,«:†§¤###
#¤†«¨¨¨¨¨¨ The Tail, And Drop Some Off, As A Way ¨¨¨¨¨¨«†¤#
###¤§†:«,¨ Of Earning Some Extra Money. But A ¨,«:†§¤###
¤†††:«¨¨¨¨ Missile, And Appearing Silently In The ¨¨¨¨«:†††¤
##¤¤§†:«,¨ Middle Of The Night At That? Not ¨,«:†§¤¤##
#¤¤¤§†:«,¨ Entirely... Comfortable. ¨,«:†§¤¤¤#
¤¤§:::«¨¨¨ ¨¨¨«:::§¤¤
¤¤¤§:,,¨¨¨ I Call It In On The Walkie-Talkie. Not ¨¨¨,,:§¤¤¤
#¤§§§†:«,¨ Many Others Awake, They Know Nothing ¨,«:†§§§¤#
###¤§†:«,¨ About It, And Appear Concerned As Well. ¨,«:†§¤###
¤¤§:,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨,:§¤¤
###¤§†:«,¨ ############################## ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ ¨,«:†§¤###
¤†««,¨¨¨¨¨ When I Fall Awake In The Afternoon, ¨¨¨¨¨,««†¤
###¤§†:«,¨ Karl Is There, Smiling At Me. "Hey ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ Boy," He Says, "Wanna Help Me Make A ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ Call?" ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ After He'S Brought Me Coffee, I Dial ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ The Frequency From His Notebook, And ¨,«:†§¤###
#¤¤§§†:«,¨ After A While There'S A Reply In ¨,«:†§§¤¤#
###¤§†:«,¨ Pan-Slavic. Karl Laughs And Makes A ¨,«:†§¤###
####§†:«,¨ Reply In The Same Language. Even Though ¨,«:†§####
###¤§†:«,¨ We Both Have Headphones I Can'T Follow ¨,«:†§¤###
¤§:::«¨¨¨¨ At All, But I Hear The Word "Missile" A ¨¨¨¨«:::§¤
###¤§†:«,¨ Few Times. ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ I'M Almost Snoozing Again At The Time ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ Karl Puts Down The Headphones And Slaps ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ Me On My Back. "Allright Boy. I Just ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ Sold A Missile." He Practically Beams ¨,«:†§¤###
#§§†««¨¨¨¨ At Me, Teeth Filed Sharp. "Wanna Make A ¨¨¨¨««†§§#
###¤§†:«,¨ Detour?" ¨,«:†§¤###
#§§††:«,¨¨ ¨¨,«:††§§#
###¤§†:«,¨ ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ ¨,«:†§¤###
###¤§†:«,¨ ¨,«:†§¤###