There was the muffled crackle of walkie-talkies and the flash of a photograph bulb from within the screens.

The scene was lit by orange station lights. Blue was green, white was orange, red was redder.

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Jonah enters Birmingham, thought Samuel, and someone is smited.

Jonah was a passenger too, but on a boat. Fleeing the presence of the Lord. His fellow mariners asked him to jump ship to calm the boiling sea. And Jonah did it as well, for the general good.

In the Jonah cartoon Sam remembered having to say the lines “The world will be a safer place without me.” Splosh.

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As the train pulled away, Samuel saw a young police officer turn away from the screens and put a hand up to his face. He stayed motionless like that for a few moments, his eyes closed, shoulders bunched. He then rubbed his face briskly, gathered himself together and turned back.

Samuel kept looking at him until he was out of view.

At New Street Station he saw notices being put up informing passengers that, for the next two hours, return trains would not be stopping at Birmingham International and that a bus service was being organized for those inconvenienced.

The image of the young policeman was still in Sam’s mind as he checked into an anonymous city center hotel. This officer had experienced a terrible yet momentous moment, and it was to Samuel’s nagging shame that rather than sympathize with this young man, he was memorizing the turn, the covering of the face, the expression, in order to accurately duplicate it should a future acting moment require it.

Many profound moments had been ruined in this way.

The receptionist who gave him his key looked depressed. Samuel didn’t ask her why. Didn’t want to be told that her test results were positive, or that her house had burned down, or that her marriage was off.

Samuel refused the offer of a porter and ran to his room and switched on the television, not wishing to hex anyone else that day.

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Edward the Fireman took his headphones off. He asked the barman if he could put on The Penny Lock Show. The barman refused, his clientele didn’t dig Penny Lock.

“How can you say that?” said Edward. “It’s an excellent show. Today it’s ‘Love at First Sight.’”

“Too slushy,” said the barman.

Edward was outraged. “Love is deep and committed and REVOLUTIONARY.”

“Revolutionary?” said the barman.

“GREAT ACTS are performed out of love.”

The barman told Edward to either leave or keep his voice down.

Edward thought about listening to tape four, Asserting Your Rights, which would walk him through little confrontations like this, but he didn’t think the barman would wait while he rewound it, so he just got up and left. Besides, the joint left a nasty taste in his mouth. Or it could have been the cheap bourbon.

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