waving

a child in the third window from the engine, waving with the seriousness of a job. she is waving at nobody in particular — at the fence, the field, the low sun on the rails. and at you, because you are present in the field; though she does not know that.

you wave back. the train is faster than the gesture; by the time your arm is up, only the last carriages remain, and they have no one in them.

field-note i counted the carriages. nine. only the one had a small hand at a window. the rest carried adults reading, or the empty backs of seats.

child a train window late for a train witness