When Strangers Talk

Chapter 02

Luna always used to book the whole first class compartment all for herself. She doesn't like to talk to anyone. She's a calm girl. She always wants to travel all alone. She had carried her all necessities with her. Someone tapped the ring outside her compartment. She opened the door. It was the Ticket Checker in a dark blue officer uniform.
'Why! Ma'am you're alone? Where are the other passengers?' asked the officer.
'Oh, sir, I've got the tickets of the whole compartment.' Luna replied with a firm smile.
He checked the tickets and left the compartment, moved to the next one.
She sat on the seat with a sigh of relax or may be of some grief. Goodness knows.
'Why on earth do people fuss about every second thing...' she said to herself.
Tinn!
The bell rang again almost after an hour.
'Uh, now what!' she whispered to herself.
There was a boy. A young boy, hardly a year older than Luna. Red haired, the curled up ones, and white as snow, but his nose and cheeks were getting pink because of the intense cold outside. Eye brows naturally arched and dark brown eyes. Surely, he wasn't English, his eyes were small but he looked cute with his features, specially his pointy small nose. He was carrying a backpack and a brown leather jacket in his arm.
'Yes?' Luna asked.
'May I have a seat here, please, if you don't mind?' he asked politely.
'Why! I've been here alone for I've got the whole compartment for myself.' Luna replied, first getting out of her emotions but then politely continuing.
'I couldn't find my seat, but may be there's a mistake, I've checked twice, my ticket is booked of this compartment, I guess.' he said with a light of hope in his bright eyes.
'Uh..' Luna sighed rolling her eyes but continued saying, 'Alright, come in, please.'
'Thank you so much.'
For a few minutes, there was an awkward silence. But then, Luna took out a novel from her bag and started with it. And the boy was eating some sort of Italian Sausage with something, Luna didn't pay attention to notice it that much.
'By the way, my name is Brandon.'
'Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Luna, from Brinston.'
'I'm actually from Drysony. But I'm an explorer.'
Luna looked at him with a fair impression on her face and then continued with her book.
'On the way to Gloriyostous?'
'Yes.' Luna answered, with still reading her book, eyes never moved.
'Mind if I ask, what do you do?'
'Oh, I'm a psychologist by profession but actually I'm interested in travelling so much. What about you?'
'Woah, I'd never met a psychologist before. Good to know that. I'm a programmer.'
'That's great!'
'So, you're a psychologist, you would meet a hundred kinds of people everyday?'
'I don't give much time to my job usually. I just attend the clinic once a week. And I attend special therapy session appointments.'
'Good enough.'
'And yes, I meet hell lot of people, a thousand kinds of creeps.'
'Ugh.. Oh...' He got uncomfortable as Luna was pointing him.
'No, no, it's not like that you're thinking of!' Luna laughed, continuing, 'I meant the kind of people who judge others, over think others' issues and then cry about OCD and depression in front of me'
'That's understandable.' He had a smile now.
'Do you know anything about depression?'
The book in her hand now closed with her thumb stuck inside as a bookmark to stay with the page she was reading.
He laughed teasing, 'Oh, who doesn't?'
Luna arched one eye brow and questioned with an evil sort of smile, 'Then explain, h-mm'
'It's kind of ... Ugh... Stressful condition. What else?'
'I won. You're wrong.' She smiled.
'Miss Luna WHATEVER, I'm not a psychologist.' He teased.
'Look, depression and stress are two separate things. Stress is a temporary thing for a month or two at the most expected.'
He was listening quietly, very concentrated and curious to know.
Luna continued, 'And Depression is the prolonged stress about the same reason for months and months. Depression is some sort of being numb about life, about everything you have. You have everything yet you have nothing, you don't have any reason to continue. You don't wanna live but you can't die.'
'Well, I got it ma'am!'
'Better.'
'It feels good to meet someone who listens to your boring topics with the same excitement and energy with which you tell them'
'Undoubtedly.'
'And I never found someone like that, except for my cousin Twinkle, who lives with me and listens to all my shit.'
'Doesn't sound good. You seem so much emotional while describing depression...'
'No, not at all.'
'Don't lie.'
'I don't.'
'Please?'
'No.'
'Fine. I feel like you've never been sad or something. You're so tough.'
'Really? I've been a depression patient for years!'
And Brandon laughed so hard that his laugh could be heard outside the compartment.
'And you were saying that you don't lie?'
'Oh, I'm sorry about that.' Luna replied with eyes down looking at her nails (actually, weird nails. She is use to of nail biting in anxiety)
'It's alright. May I ask about the reason?'
'Dear sir, if you know something about ethics, you can't ask something like that until and unless I tell you by myself.'
Luna opened the book again.
'I'm really sorry for that. I didn't mean that. I thought, you could at least share that with me. May be I can help you.'
'No one can help but I, myself.'
'Your choice. But it cost nothing trying.' He winked.
There was a silence of the room for a moment, that if they were not in a train, they could just hear their breaths. No sound other than the noise of the train.
'Why didn't the TC come to check your ticket?' Luna asked breaking the silence.
'I don't know.'
Brandon put out two packs of coffee and a hot watter bottle and prepared two cups. One for himself and pushed the other one towards Luna. They'd been talking for hours.
Luna was enjoying her time. May be, she often does, whenever she meets a stranger on the way to her destination. I don't know. I'm not so sure if she tells me each and everything about her each and every journey. But she tells me the most of it. Goodness knows!