Eternal Triangle
by Paul Avila Mayer, Frank O'Connor

THE STORY: Amid the crash of rifle fire, a Dublin doxie of indeterminate years takes refuge in a stalled tram car and is befriended by the conductor, who is watching over his company's property.

Trapped by the increasing violence outside, the two share his lunch and the dubious comfort of the tram floor, and as they huddle together for protection the years seem to roll away.

He puts behind him the dreary marriage and dull routine that have become his life, and she recaptures the glow and freshness that were hers when she still an unspoiled and innocent girl.

Together they discover the ardor and passion of young love—but with the dawn comes the harsh realization of what they truly are and cannot escape for long.

Tenderness vanishes when she rebuffs his suggestion of future trysts and tells him the sordid truth about herself.

Hurt and saddened he resolves to leave, going out of the tram car and into the lethal hail of bullets outside, while she laments the waste of war—and youth—and turns once again to the drab and demeaning business of her workday life.