978-1572305441

William 91
“And then the brownish going north went into Bloor and then the
yellowish going south came into Bloor. And I saw the brownish go
north through the windows of the yellowish going south. And I let the
yellowish going south go by.”
“You let another one go by?”
“And then it went into a tunnel. And then you know what happened?”
“No.”
“The yellowish going south came in all over again!”
“I imagine you were quite late getting home.”
“And then the brownish going north came in again. And I saw the
brownish going north through the windows of the yellowish going
south. The yellowish going south on that side and the brownish going
north went outside. And then the new subway going south came into
Davisville. And it had a trip arm sticking out of the front. And the doors
are a lot bigger in it.”
“Is that good?”
“And there’s windows and there is a wheelchair sign on it. That’s
why the doors are bigger.”
“To allow the wheelchairs to go in?”
“No. And then you know what happened?”
“No.”
“It stopped, and I let it go by because I wanted brownish. And it
left. The new subway going south left Davisville. And the new subway
going south went outside. Then the other subway with yellowish going
south came into Davisville again.”
And then I see! I can finally picture in my mind what is going on.
Imagine William’s perspective as he stands on the subway platform. He
is waiting for a particular train to come in, and he lets other trains go by
as he waits for the right one. The “right” train is a particular combination
of direction, shape of window, and color of upholstery. He sees various
trains come into the station, some with square windows, some with
round windows. Some trains have yellow upholstery, some have brown.
He watches as the trains move past each other, one going north, one going
south. Through the square windows of one train going north he sees
the round windows of the other train going south. It is a kaleidoscope
of shapes and colors going in both directions. From William’s perspective
the entire conversation makes sense. It is no use forcing my perspective
onto his conversation. I have to see things just as he does, then
I can have a conversation with him. But without that imaginative leap