Short Story - A Train to Catch

 

Mom was shaking me awake.  “Get up! Get up, Rahul! We have a train to catch. Get ready quickly.” I slowly yawned, opened my eyes and stretched.  I wanted to pull back the comforter and go back to sleep but Mom continued her tirade from the kitchen –“ Leave the comforter aside! GET UP!”  You can never argue or get away with Mom.  She has eyes that can see through walls.

I reluctantly got up, went into the bathroom, and slowly brushed my teeth.  I could hear Mom moving around in the bedroom; she was laying out clothes for me to wear.  She then came into the bathroom, filled up water in the bucket and hustled me towards the shower.  “Come on, have a quick bath.  We need to leave within the next 20 minutes.” The warm water woke me up a little.  I asked her, “What time is the train, Amma?”   She replied, “The Shatabdi Express leaves at 6:30.  We have to be at the Railway station at least by 6:15.  Ok, stop playing with that mug.  Let’s get you towelled and into those clothes.”

Mom helped me get dressed quickly, ran a comb through my hair and handed me a glass of milk.  “Rahul, please drink up the milk quickly.  I will book the taxi.”  While she was fidgeting with her phone, I slowly drank my cup of milk, grimacing when I felt a thread of cream on my tongue.  “Amma, yuck! Why did you put the cream?”  Mom replied, “Sorry, I don’t have time to filter it now.  Leave that bit and drink up the rest.” After making some unpleasant sounds, I gulped it down quickly.    

Mom said, “Ok, the taxi will be here in 5 minutes.  Let us get the bags and wait outside.  Put on your crocs and stand near the gate, Rahul.  I will lock up the house.” As I stood outside and watched Mom lock the front door, I shouted, “Amma, wait.  I have to pick up Teddy.  He is lying on the bed.” Mom said in exasperation, “Rahul, I just finished locking up.  And the taxi has arrived.  Let Teddy be here.”  I immediately stomped my feet and wailed, “Amma NO.  Open the door, we have to take Teddy. We cannot leave him alone for a week.” Not wanting to deal with a tantrum, Mom reluctantly opened the door, muttering under her breath.  She got my beloved Teddy, locked up the house again and bundled me into the waiting taxi. I hugged Teddy close to me as the taxi moved along. Mom kept looking at her watch repeatedly and said, ”Bhaiyya, please drive quickly to the City Station. We have only 25 minutes; our train leaves at 6:30.” 

The taxi driver mumbled something and tried to make his way through the unprecedented early morning traffic.  He said, “Ma’am, why didn’t you book the taxi earlier?  You are cutting it too close.”  He veered suddenly to avoid an auto that barged into his lane.  He was angry and screamed at the auto driver.  He used some words that I had not heard before. 

Mom sat tensed and said, “I hope the train leaves from Platform 1.  We will then have a little time.”  After a few minutes of dangerous driving, we finally spotted the lights of the City Station. I exclaimed loudly, “Amma, look! The Train Station!” The taxi driver parked right outside the entrance and  Mom hurriedly paid him.  She quickly glanced at the information board to check the platform from which our train was leaving and let out a pained scream, “Oh no, the train is leaving from Platform 3.  We need to run.  Rahul, quick, hold my hand. ”  Mom pulled the suitcase with her right hand while she held on to mine with her left hand.  I could hear the announcements being made about the coming and going of various trains.  But we had no time to waste.

We half-ran, half-pushed our way through the throng of people on Platform 1 to reach the sub-way that would take us to Platform 3. We had to climb down a series of steps.  I was panting now and kept saying, “Amma wait. Amma wait.”  Mom, also out of breath, continued, “No Rahul, not now. We cannot stop.  We have only 5 minutes; we need to hurry.”  I held on tightly to Teddy lest he fell off my hand.  Mom pushed her way past the people who were coming right in our path.  I could feel several hands and arms brushing against my shoulders and head.  Thankfully, we saw the arrow that pointed to Platform 3 and rushed up the steps.  I was completely out of breath, but Mom would not stop.  I could hear my heart pounding loudly and it seemed ready to explode.  Finally, we reached the platform and saw our train.  Without waiting to check the compartment number, Mom pushed me up the nearest open doorway of the train, climbed in herself and finally relaxed for the first time that morning. She slumped against the coach wall and tried to catch her breath.  And right then, the train started moving. I exclaimed loudly, “Amma, we made it! We made it.” She hugged me, let out a huge sigh and smiled broadly.  

She then asked a fellow passenger, “Excuse me Sir, which compartment is this? We have to get to A2.”   The seated man said, “This is S1. The previous coach is A3. So the one before that should be A2.” Mom thanked him profusely and we moved towards the end of the compartment.  “Amma, how will we go to our compartment?”  Mom said, “Rahul, all the compartments are connected through a vestibule.  We will just have to walk over the connecting metal board to go the next compartment.”  The train had picked up speed now and we were being pushed side-ways as we slowly made our way.  We approached the end of the coach and I saw the small, slightly dark connecting passage that was rattling and heaving on the rails. I also noticed a gap between the two connecting boards and though the gap, I could see the tracks below.  And as the train turned rightwards, the connecting plates got pushed away from each other.  I screamed, “NO Amma, don’t go over that.  We will fall down!”  Mom tried to reassure me and said, “Rahul, don’t worry.  This is safe, we will not fall down.”  I was still whimpering when she quickly carried me and stepped on to the vestibule.  In the hustle, I somehow dropped Teddy.  I saw him falling towards the opening between the connecting plates.   I thrashed, I kicked and screamed, “Amma, NO, NOooo..my poor Teddy! NO, don’t let him fall…” 

And then I felt my Mom gently shaking me and saying, “Rahul, wake up. Rahul, get up. We have a train to catch!”

Note - Images used have been sourced from the internet.  They are not mine.