A small teddy bear, soft, golden and plush, sits on a cabdriver’s dashboard. Sharing the space is a rosary that hangs around his rear-view mirror. Together they navigate while the driver keeps on stopping off, dropping off, picking up new passengers.
The light atop his taxi cab falls dim, once again.
Again, youthful giggles and slurred conversations fill the backseat and he gets that pang – they are probably just as old as his.
He looks to the rear-view mirror and crow’s feet form as he tries to make out the backseat. He can barely see those inhabiting the small space. He knows they are there, though. An image pressed in his mind, far away but safe. Still, it doesn’t help when the pang gets a bit too strong. He can feel his stomach shifting with the gears as he darts across the city until the next
—Stop—
The teddy rattles a bit, while the rosary sways back and forth and nicks the teddy’s ear—just barely. The driver grins.
The swaying ceases, the rattling stops,
the pang goes away...
and the passengers in the back stumble out; coats and heels.
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