She grew up in a shabby, narrow house on the wrong side of the track. Twice a day, once very early in the morning and again in the late afternoon, a cargo train rolled down the middle of her street, curving at the very end to cut through her backyard. The track had been built to go around her parents’ house, the only people on the street who’d refused to sell. Now twice a day, a train rolled by her bedroom window, a novelty that once made her popular among her classmates. But after the novelty wore off, the children no longer visited. She stood by the window — the girl on the wrong side of the track — while the pane rattled, and she waved somberly. Some days, the conductor waved back. Most days, he pretended to ignore her. It must not be easy, she thought, driving your train through someone’s backyard. Sometimes, the glass shook so violently she feared it would break. On those days, she’d press herself against the window, the vibrations tickling her deep down into her tummy, and she tried, once again, to imagine herself as the superhero who protects the world from the inevitable shards of glass, from all its injustices.
READER
Caucasian female, early 30s, wearing brown jacket, crisp blue jeans, and suede boots, black laptop bag tucked under her arm.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
The Long Way Home, Season 8, Issue 4
Joss Whedon, illustrated by Georges Jeanty, Andy Owens, Jo Chen
(Dark Horse, 2007)
near the beginning