After attending an anti-war protest in Hyde Park

Image of Paddington Station at night.A fatality on the line at Acton stops the trains leaving Paddington and we stare at the departure boards, eyes still stinging from the tear gas. Hours pass. Engines tick. The wind thrums under the canopy and my bones feel as if they’re losing themselves inside my skin. Then a guy rises from his seat, kneels at the feet of a girl. She takes his hand and they dance, gliding across the floor like the station is a ballroom. Beside me, you squeeze my thigh and for a moment I believe the world is not as bruised as it seems.

Sam Payne’s work has appeared in Spelk Fiction, Fictive Dream, and Reflex Fiction. She lives in the U.K. and tweets @skpaynewriting.

Photo Credit: Paul Narvaez

3 Responses to “After attending an anti-war protest in Hyde Park”

  1. Tristin says:

    I love this story

  2. Helgi says:

    Amazing what you can fit into a 100 word story ,

  3. Tony Press says:

    This is a wonderful little story — excellent! (And, memories of Paddington Station, too – so thank you for that, too).

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