Platform 8, Bogey F, Seat 13
I’ve memorized it perfectly.

I pass a group of people and then some more until I find the one I was looking for. The train’s late. But It won’t leave me behind.

And that’s when I hear the sirens sound.

I turn around and I watch the train approaching. I pick my bag up, hurry through the crowd. This bogey’s almost empty. I’m quick to find my seat.

I settle down and you greet me with a smile.

You’re sitting across me, in blue jeans and an even lighter top. “Where you headed?” you ask.
“Till the very end” I reply.

You laugh and I realize I want this. “What about you?” I ask.
You tell me where you’re headed. I don’t recognize the place.

“That’s far” I say. “That’s too far away.”
“Not as far as we already are” you reply.
“And yet, you’re still far away” I mumble.

The train will move soon after. I can hear the guards blow whistles.

Sirens scream silence.

I look outside the window and there are people passing by. Everyone with an urgency; everyone with a purpose. She notices the same.

“Where do you go when you have nowhere left to come back” she asks.
“Maybe here; right here” I reply.

The train starts moving. Slowly and with purpose. I notice another train pass us by approaching the adjacent platform. “What platform was this” I ask.
“Seven” you reply. “Wait, are you on the wrong train?” You ask.
I look at you and then I look away. I am where I need to be.

“They might throw you out” you joke.
“That’s okay” I say.

“We have till the sirens sound.”

…………
Sirens | April 3
Enroute to Rajshahi