Four Foot Eight

West Finchley

At 0802 a middle-aged man running for the train slips on the stairs to the platform and falls. As he tumbles down he grabs instinctively at anything solid-looking, including the legs of two other passengers who follow him down the stairs. A snowball effect results in a pile of dazed bodies on the platform who pick themselves up, apologise to each other a lot, reclaim their briefcases and try to recover their dignity. It's only then that someone notices the man at the bottom of the scrum isn't moving.

The station manager calls an ambulance. When they arrive, they find him still breathing - just - but only half alive. Looks like a heart attack, says the paramedic as they wheel the stretcher away. The other passengers continue with their journey, maybe a little bruised but otherwise fine, as the station manager frets about lawsuits. He's been asking for someone to fix that loose step for weeks.