Train Ride to Jogasaki

The seats on the Alpha Resort 21 had been turned to face the sea, blue and choppy, breaking on rocks and black, volcanic sand. We glided through Ito; the man behind finished his beer and began to snore. Autumn hadn't come this far south - the trees were still heavy with leaves, only now beginning to yellow. We ate tangerines we'd just picked in Usami and matched up islands to points on the map. Too late, we realised we'd overshot our stop.