The Flying Dreams

CHAPTER THREE

I had a middle seat in a three-seater, but Wahab asked the man to offer me his window seat, at first the man argued but then Wahab played the 'travelling for the first time' card; the man moved without a further question. I found my mother's eyes through the window railings and immediately fixed my hijab, which earned a small, proud smile from her. My father came back to the compartment with a dozen packs of potato chips and a few canned drinks. Following him behind was Wahab's father.

'Don't buy anything from the train vendors, if you want something to eat, just tell me now'

Before I could say that was enough, Wahab's father said, 'So great, Aftab, you could never trust them, vendors, with an alone girl and our Adia, Allah, she is a sweet cow'

I didn't appreciate his comment, but I smiled when he looked at me with a certain expression and took the little pack of mints from his hand. Thanked him and put the pack in my bag. Now, I could say I had something in my bag aside from the phone.

Wahab behind him, though, pulled on his ears and covered his mouth with his hand. I religiously ignored him. Once the trio was content with my seating arrangement, they left except Wahab. I thought he was going to say something, but he only squinted his nose and smiled then left.

The train ride to Delhi from Lucknow was only a few hours but I was bored in the first twenty minutes. I could never comprehend why some people liked to travel alone. In the past, I was always accompanied by a family member or a female cousin. I had nothing to do, I watched people walking along in the narrow space between the row of seats, then stared out the window and watched houses pass then the trees and then at some point, there were just green fields or brown rocks. In the end, I just decided to sleep by placing my head against the window. I stayed in the position with my eyes closed for almost a few minutes.

I couldn't sleep. The sound of people running around and talking was too much and I wasn't exhausted enough to fall asleep in midst of so much commotion. Now, that I was alone— I gathered all the emotions I had and felt almost giddy. Sure, I was nervous and scared, and I was terrified by the move-out— an adventure as Wahab put it. But moreover, I was excited and hyped to finally live the life Wahab had painted for me after I had applied for the test. I was ecstatic to be studying medicine. And I had only one person to give credit to— Wahab. if it was not for him, I would still be just daydreaming about becoming a doctor not trying to make it come true. Thinking about him brought a smile to my face, I was lucky enough that he noticed me. Among so many girls— he saw me and chose me as his companion in life.

The next stop was mine. The relief washed over my body. I stood up and stretched my legs, sitting still for almost six hours was not an easy task but somehow, I survived the boredom and the stiffness. My muscles were pulled and sore, but I channelled my focus on getting my two very heavy suitcases out from under my seat. Once I had both my bags and my duffle bag, on the edge of my feet, I sat back. Throughout the whole journey— there were so many things running in my mind, to begin with, then my phone rang which surprised me— for a moment I had completely forgotten the use of the device. It rang for quite some time, loudly— the tone of some instruments playing, and I wouldn't have guessed it was mine if the man beside me hadn't told me to keep it on silent; he was trying to sleep and the annoyance in his expression made me forget my manners and failed to say a single word to him-- sorry. Embarrassment wouldn't do justice to what I felt, hastily fished out my phone and answered it. In the process of doing it, a few packets of snacks fell out of the bag, the man, who was still trying to sleep sighed out of irritation and picked them up from the ground and dumped them on the seat, I mumbled a small thank you in return— he rolled his eyes before turning his back toward me and resting his head on his right shoulder. Wahab had saved the names on the phone beforehand so I won't have to go through the trouble of doing it. I appreciated his effort but there was a tiny part of me that didn't want him to do trivial things for me.