Between Boy and Man

’The streamlined express train, red and grey in livery, was proceeding at high speed from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston. Passengers dozed, read the morning papers, looked out of the windows at the flat, sodden, monochromatic Midland countryside, tapped information into laptop computers or communicated business through mobile ‘phones. The driver sounded the horn as the train approached Midhampton to warn the waiting commuters to stand back from the edge of the platform as the express hurtled through. Suddenly, he saw an indistinct figure detach itself from the mass of onlookers and, incredibly, step into space directly in front of him. The softest of impacts had occurred even before he could reach for the controls. Witnesses said afterwards that the driver’s face was frozen with horror as the train screamed past the far end of the platform, finally coming to a halt nearly a mile down the track. In the coaches, plastic coffee mugs and sandwich containers flew off tables; those unfortunate enough to be walking in the aisles were hurled against each other; bags and coats fell from the luggage racks; glasses smashed in the buffet car. There was a moment of eerie silence as shock turned to relief when all motion ceased.’