The woman on the train

2) The halt

Suddenly with a jerk the train stopped in the middle of the forest and the lights went off ! As I was looking for some kind of light in my bag the lights went back on but I was suddenly shocked, the woman next to me seemed to habe disappeared into thin air. No trace of her could be found,except the Blue Sapphire ring which was on her right ring finger was lying on her seat. I quickly took it and into my pocket it went, in the desire that it will again meet it's owner. Then I stood up and started to look for any kind of clue on why the train had stopped and also in great desire to meet the owner of the ring. I looked for her in vain, through the deserted corridors of the train. I had a peek outside one of the doors of the train and what I saw was equally breathtaking and eerie. The two rails of the track went parallel till where it blended into the darkness of a tunnel nearby. The track was all surrounded by snowy forests of pine and oak. A snow owl was signing a distressing call and the sound of light snow falling on the tender grass just added to it. Far away in a nearby slope one could see the lights of a nearby approaching station. It was Ramnagar, I was sure, and I was quite happy to see that I had almost reached my destination. I left the immence beauty of the forest behind and again indulged myself in finding the old lady, and I found her fairly quickly. She was too standing beside the door and was leaning to enjoy the beauty of the mountains. I asked her '' Where have you been. Your sudden diappearence woried me a lot. Do you know why the train has stopped ? ''. She uttered '' No, not really do I know why the train has stopped. I assume it's a technical fault and will be solved in a few minutes '' and she added '' Sorry if I had distressed you but the lights turning off couldn't keep me in one place, you know how much I love the darkness and utter silence. Thats why I want to stay here for ever ''. And we bursted into an colourful conversation, I soon forgot what was lying in my pocket desperate enough to meet it's owner. We reaturned to our respective seats and was soon found busy talking, and there I came across a spine chilling story ! A story of a woman and her miserable life after partition of India and Pakistan, and about her suicide on this train !

To be continued.