The empty train (short story)

The Empty Train

It was 11 pm in the night, the last train of the day. The train arrived. To my surprise, the train was empty. A night time, empty train and I was a girl traveling alone. The beads of sweat started foaming on my forehead but I had no choice. I hopped on the train and the train started running in its retiring tune. 

I examined entire ladies compartment through my eyes and no one was there. I took a corner to myself and sat trying to comfort myself. Though the train was empty but my mind wasn’t. The emptiness of the train filled my mind with anxiety, fear and some more troubling thoughts. I had six stations to go. I hardly crossed one station and yet to cross another. As the train was changing its route, my mind was also following zigzagged patterns of the thoughts.

The train of my thoughts was running by taking irregular routes like what if some goon enter in the compartment and try to harm me or simply run away with my belongings? What if suddenly the lights go off and the compartment fills with darkness?  What would I do in such situations? My scared mind started planning about the actions. 

I crossed my fingers and prayed for the good. At the same time I instructed my mind not to think worst but to think about action plans if in case of anything goes wrong. 

While my mind was busy with good and bad thoughts I realize I was one station away from my home. Now my uneasy mind was trying to relax as I was reaching near to my station. Unfortunately, the train halted in between the two stations and I profusely started sweating. At that very moment the lights also went off. I was pushed in the pitch darkness. 

I started counting milliseconds, seconds and minutes. Even in darkness I was alert and conscious about any movement. Nothing happened for a while. I rechecked but no movement occurred. Few minutes passed by and the train started. I heaved a sigh of relief and I thanked to God. 

Whatever I thought everything happened. The lights went off, the train halted but nothing worst happened other than this. When the train halted, I quickly jumped out of it. I ran with all my might and main to catch an auto. Not once I looked back to check that scary, empty train! 

‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’