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NIGHT TRAIN TO WHITEFISH 1988.฀The฀Whitefish฀ski฀train฀owes฀no฀debt to฀Hitchcock.฀Its฀strangers฀are฀explicable, neither฀mysterious฀nor฀criminal. Their฀lift฀tags฀dangle฀from฀their฀zippers.฀They฀doze and฀dream฀a฀predictable฀jumble฀of฀trig฀exams฀and฀sex. They’re฀uniformly฀twenty. Outside,฀the฀snow฀does฀its฀best ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀to฀blow฀a฀hole฀in฀the฀train. The฀doctor฀forbade฀this฀trip฀since฀I฀have฀shingles, “an฀illness฀commonest฀in฀women฀over฀eighty,” and฀though฀I’m฀only฀twenty, pain฀upholsters฀me with฀tiny฀tacks. ฀ ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀Still,฀I฀swear:฀all฀week฀I’ll฀ski powder฀acres฀where฀the฀snow฀heals฀fast, closing฀around฀my฀tracks.฀I’ll฀take฀this฀pain and฀carry฀it฀lightly, as฀if฀my฀old฀self, age฀eighty, were฀strapped฀to฀my฀back: she฀rests฀her฀chin฀on฀my฀shoulder and฀coaxes฀me฀down฀the฀hill. 63 ...

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