Counting on Danger

The announcement began at 12:03 a.m., after the last train cleared the station and the lights dimmed

to half. Please stand clear of the platform edge, the voice said,

calm and flat, then repeated, again and again, over the empty concourse. I was the only one

down there, tightening a loose ad frame with a stubby wrench while the rails clicked

as they cooled. I checked the control panel. The PA loop was idle,

green. Yet the message kept playing, always starting with the same inhale.

My radio crackled with nothing, and the smell of brake dust hung heavy near Track

2. I pulled the maintenance recording because the speaker near the north stairwell