Mercy

Stand back, Mercy, from the train tracks.

Mercy stands next to the train tracks and places a penny on the rail. There was always a story growing up of that the train would derail and explode if you put a penny on the rail. It wouldn't just flatten it.

Mercy sits on the ground and waits for the train. When it finally comes, the wind makes her eardrums pop and she is so small that the force almost knocks her on her back. She feels like a blown out accordian, she is wiry and strung out and whistles through her nose sometimes. When the train blows past completely, she has forgotten about the penny for only a moment. She has forgotten about the penny until she stands up and walks over to the rail and find the penny completely flattened, as if in one of those tourist attractions where you pay 51 cents to flatten a penny and imprint it with someone touristy, she has one from a Coors Brewery tour her father had in his dresser that she stole the other day. She is going to keep this flat penny in her pocket until it falls out in the washing machine or the dryer or on the way to the bedroom from the washing machine or dryer. Mercy will lose this flat penny and it will sadden her, the way she loses everything she loves.