Uncle Zeno had that far off look in his eyes again. The train had just passed by as he was standing on the porch, and Jim, who was 13 now, knew that meant he should leave him to his thoughts. So he went inside.

Zeno was a small boy when it happened. Of course, he had told Jim part of the story, but he had left out snippets of it. He wanted them to be personal memories, no matter how selfish that was.

When Alice had looked out at everyone, even at this small age he could feel his heartbeat speeding up, and he loved the way her long blonde hair swept around in the dusty wind. She laughed and he laughed, too, as he went shyly to her.

He was a tall boy for his age, and she was a short girl for hers, so he was barely an inch taller than she was. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his coveralls and smiled at her, almost bashfully.

"Hi." He said, smiling dopefully at the older girl.

"Hi." She said, holding her hands behind her back. Her hair waved in the wind.

A voice resounded from behind him.

"Alice! It's time to go home."

Alice smiled at him. "Bye. I'll see you, okay?"

He smiled back and nodded. "Okay."

He didn't.