809. The only seat on the train was between two large people. Exhausted, Donald reluctantly squeezed in between them. Even though he scrunched himself small, he could feel his neighbors' thighs and arms touching his thighs and arms. He tried not to think about their cooties crawling all over his clothes. That weekend, Donald decided to protect himself against cooties. Monday morning, he appeared at the Sheepshead Bay station wearing a painter's paper overalls, hood, and mask; elastic surgeon gloves; and tinted goggles. He was the one, the only, CootieMan! Everyone on the platform stared at him—from a safe distance; likewise, everyone on the train. As he got off the train, saying a muffled "Excuse me," passengers made a hurried hole for him. After stepping onto the platform, Donald removed his outfit and stuffed it into a plastic supermarket bag. CootieMan had become NormalMan, at least until the commute home. 6.5
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