The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr

 

"Baxter marches back and forth down the aisle with the carpet sweeper. As long as he keeps walking from one end of the car to the other, he can stay awake. One foot in front of the other, the low swish of his pant legs as they brush back and forth against each other, the low squeak of the leather of his shoes, as the leather uppers pull at the worn soles, the whir of the sweeper brushing the same long strip, licking up the crumbs and fragments, his breath strongly in and out."