Down in time

Oh if you could hear it... Macy's has those very, very old escalators, all wood including the stairs themselves. The sound of wood clicking, chinking, as you go up and down. There are not everywhere: some of the escalators are new, new-ish, or only have the exterior made of wood, the rest being the modern version. But when you meet one of those, or at least when I do, the noises of the crowds inside this cavern of stuff disappears. I hear only this clunking, almost like a train, and for a second, I forget the horns and the cars and the trucks and the people that are just outside, in the city that truly doesn't sleep.