"There is another one," thought Rock. "Each time one passes, I get rattled to the core."
A long merchandise train slowly rumbled over Rock. It felt like hours, but once the long train was gone, the horizon still showed the red sundup and the morning mists.
"Why does time feel so different when a train is over me?" Rock wondered, still shuddering a bit from below, the trains vibrations carrying far through the long rails.
Rock slowly slowly slowly moved precariously close to the edge of the wooden sleeper and then, slipped in the space between sleepers. His view was cut off.
Rock was sad. He hated being part of the ballast between sleepers. He liked when he was on top of the sleeper and could see.
The vibrations started up again. This time, it would be a fast train, he could feel how the vibrations grew in intensity from second to second. And then it was above him. The fast train carrying the morning commuters. Rock and all his co-workers got shaken to their little cores. Rock flew up, bumped on the bottom of the train, flew down, bounced a couple more times, rolled over and over and finally came to a halt on the side of the hill, stuck in a gopher hole.
"I can see houses now," Rock thought happily.
The sun shone from above, and Rock spent his day watching humans go about their day.
A railroad maintenance worker walked along the tracks. He spotted Rock, picked him up, and threw him back onto the rails.
Rock flew in a high arch. He wondered where he would land.
With a clanking sound, he landed on the sleeper where he had started his day.