Every day, Devon made the same trip, from LA to San Diego and back. The Café Car is a pretty empty place. Most passengers bring their own snacks, or sit with the silence of their texts. No one interacts, even when their elbows are touching. They are together but totally alone.

Over the PA came Devon’s voice. “I’ve got a problem here,” he began. “There is a fresh box of juicy…succulent…Skittles… just sitting here… in the Café Car.” Passengers’ eyes shifted as they focused on looking unaffected.

“In ten minutes I will breach the seal.” He left them to marinade in the juices of temptation. “Five minutes. Only five minutes until I break the seal.” He gave them a little stir.

The hydraulic hiss of the carriage doors opened and Devon swaggered down the aisle, silently bearing before him the untainted treasure. The passengers began scanning their fellows with competitive eyes; the odds were not in their favor. The prudent power bars packed at dawn had lost their appeal.

His game continued. “Three minutes,” he teased. A queue began to form. “Two minutes.” The puppeteer pulled his strings and more joined straining line. “One… More… Minute…And they’re yours.” Subconscious seconds counted down. With ten paces left, hands flinched for the draw. Like the erotic unlacing of a bodice, he broke the seal on Pandora’s Box.

The train pulled into the Santa Fe depot and the passengers all unloaded. In the empty car, with the empty box, Devon took his bow.