Journey of Rhythm

The rhinoceros-train followed a timetable printed before any passenger was born. It never waited for sunsets, questions or people running along the platform. The woman on top fished for a beat she kept hearing between the wheels, but every stationmaster called it delay. One morning she caught it: a tiny silver pause wriggling on the line.

The train stopped to look. Birds landed on the carriages; passengers met the faces opposite them. The stationmaster waved his red flag until his arm tired.

When the train moved again, the missing beat travelled inside its rhythm. It arrived seven minutes late and, for the first time, with everyone truly aboard. The old timetable remained framed at the station—a useful map, no longer a verdict.