Hey, this is Johanna. I'm the senior producer of the show.

Today, we are collaborating with the folks from Off Assignment.

They're this nonprofit online literary magazine, and they describe themselves as having, quote,

a penchant for journeys and a fascination with strangers.

Very atlacy, if I do say so myself.

So Off Assignment has this column that I really love.

It's called Letter to a Stranger.

And I think it just really encapsulates those kind of fleeting moments that you have while you're traveling around the world.

So today we are going to share an essay from that column.

It was written by Maggie Hart.

Hope you enjoy.

To the boy on the night bus.

You could have been five or twelve for all I knew.

I'm not good with children.

I haven't been around them often.

Never witnessed or memorized the milestones that my friends my age seemed to carry like

instinct.

When did teeth start growing? When do they fall out? When did knees stop looking soft and start looking knobby? You were small,

that I know, sleep softening your face, already soft with youth, lashes fluttering against your

dusty cheeks, pressed against the fabric of your father's shirt.

The squish forced your lips outward, like a fish's mouth. I felt a prickle of guilt then,

and now, for not even being able to guess your age, for not being the kind of woman who is

...