This 4.7-square-foot short story is a study of four towns north of Washington, DC, all located along the Metropolitan Branch of the B&O Railroad. This piece starts with the same field observations as the Metropolitan Branch book, but it takes a narrative perspective. It follows about a dozen people, fictionalized versions of real people I met in Maryland, as they go about their lives on a late-spring workday. They travel around the region, work in offices and stores, and amuse themselves in the evening. Their paths cross, and sometime they meet; more often they fail to meet.

These pictures show the final version. The earlier version, printed in color on heavy-weight paper, and meant for display as a poster, seemed too precious. The high production values encouraged people to look at the piece rather than read it. For the final version, I modified the piece so that it would reproduce well in black-and-white, and I moved page elements around to take advantage of folds. I made several very large photocopies, and folded the copies like a map or a news-paper so that readers could hold them in their hands. At last, people began to read the text.<