Ben McCulloch and Alison Donnelly walked along Broadway toward the subway stop at West 116th Street. Ben had his right arm around her shoulders. The sun was setting behind them, casting elongated shadows across the campus opposite them from structures hugging the boulevard. Alison had mistakenly left her gloves in her other jacket and was rubbing her hands vigorously as an evening chill descended on them, along with the expanding shade on the sidewalk from the buildings to their west. Ben had offered her his gloves, but his hands were so big that his gloves fell off her hands often and unceremoniously along Broadway. She opted for the alternative of retracting her hands into the sleeves of her parka.
Ben and Alison would again take the 1 subway downtown, but this time get off at West 79th Street. They would then walk two long blocks east to the American Museum of Natural History where the giant balloons featured in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tomorrow were being inflated. They had decided that it would be okay for them to act like tourists once they got there, even though they now considered themselves New Yorkers. Be that as it may, they swore they wouldn't give themselves away by looking up at the buildings and gaping at how tall they were.
When they arrived at the subway stop, Ben took his arm from around Alison and grasped her newly freed left hand to bound down the steps to the platform. Their subway had just pulled into the station and they rushed to it, swiping their MetroCards at the turnstile and then arriving at the platform in time. They would be getting off in five stops.
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WE GATHER TOGETHER by Edward L. Woodyard
General FictionSometimes you have to go far away to realize just how close you really are. A straightforward, honest and emotional journey of the heart, We Gather Together is a perceptive and joyous story about a small-town suburban family that wants to come toge...
