This is a wee tale based on truth. It has haunted me for almost two decades.

It recounts a long-ago train journey.

It contains a particular swear word which is included because it was used and is necessary to convey what happened.

Some of the dialogue is in a Glasgow dialect, which may make it unintelligible to some readers. Sorry.

The story was written to meet a Writers’ Circus challenge - “The Train”.

Some of you who know me will have heard an oral version.