Karishma quietly sat on her lower side seat inside the train compartment, hugging her school bag against herself while absentmindedly looking outside the window.

Her eyes still looked slightly swollen from crying continuously since morning.

But right now-

her attention slowly shifted toward the chaos happening outside the station.

The train had stopped at one of the crowded junction stations for few minutes.

Vendors shouted continuously.

People rushed everywhere dragging luggage.

Children cried.

Tea sellers moved between passengers loudly yelling-

"Chaaaiii! Garam chaiii!"

And in the middle of all that chaos-

one girl came running toward the platform carrying an oversized bag almost double her size.

She was running so fast that half the time the bag dragged behind instead of moving with her.

The girl stopped near the platform entrance completely out of breath.

One hand held a half-open chips packet.

Another struggled with the giant trolley bag.

A school backpack hung separately from her shoulders crookedly.

The girl looked around eighteen years old at most.

Completely chaotic.

Completely dramatic.

And somehow strangely confident despite looking one missed step away from falling flat on the platform.

Her long black hair had become messy because of running while her expressions changed every two seconds between confusion, irritation, panic, and attitude.

One moment she looked like she would start crying because of missing the train-

and the next moment she looked ready to fight the entire railway station staff personally.

She had the kind of energy that exhausted people around her automatically.

Meanwhile nearby-

an older man chewing paan walked past while talking loudly on phone.

Man: "Hellllooo... awaaz aa rahi hai? Haan bua ji namaste..."

The girl looked around confusedly before stopping him quickly.

Girl: "Uncle?"

The man didn't hear.

Still busy on phone.

Man: "Nahi nahi kal nahi aa payenge... ek sawari ki booking hai station pe..."

The girl frowned slightly before speaking louder.

Girl: "Oh uncle!"

This time the man finally turned.

Man: "Haan haan beta kya hua?"

Girl: "Ye train Gomti hai?"

Man blinked.

He was slightly hard of hearing.

Man: "Ka?"

The girl took a breath patiently.

Girl: "Uncle... train Gomti hai kya?"

Man immediately nodded confidently.

Man: "Haan haan."

The girl instantly smiled brightly.

Without wasting another second she picked her heavy bag again and started walking ahead quickly.

But then behind her-

the uncle shouted casually-

Man: "Waise beta train ghumegi kaise? Patri pe sidha chalti hai bas!"

The girl stopped mid-step.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

She turned around and stared directly at the man.

Blank expression.

Pure judgment.

The uncle finally looked up properly toward her.

Unfortunately-

that exact moment he was about to spit paan into the nearby dustbin.

Seeing the girl staring at him like that-

the poor man got so scared he accidentally swallowed the paan instead.

He started coughing instantly.

Man: "Khak- khak-"

Then awkwardly-

Man: "Waise beta... ye bag tumse bada nahi hai?"

The girl continued staring at him silently for another few seconds.

Completely unimpressed.

Then suddenly-

the station announcement echoed loudly overhead.

"Yatri kripya dhyan dein... Gaadi kramank ek sunya no chaar teen (10943) Gomti Express platform kramank 5 par aa chuki hai."

(🤨- Same tone mai bole na?)

The girl's eyes widened.

Girl: "HAWW!"

She quickly grabbed her bag again dramatically.

One hand holding chips.

Another dragging luggage.

School bag hanging sideways.

And while leaving-

she gave the uncle one final offended look full attitude ke saath before running toward Platform 5 again.

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.

.

The girl finally managed to climb inside the train somehow while dragging her oversized luggage with full determination and zero balance.

At the exact same moment-

Karishma had just gotten up from her seat to go toward the washroom.

And the next second-

THAKK.

Both collided badly in the middle of the compartment.

The chips packet flew dramatically into the air before falling all over the floor.

For one second both girls froze.

Then together-

Girl: "ARRREYY!"

The girl immediately looked down at the fallen chips in horror like someone had destroyed her life savings.

Girl: "Dikhayi nahi deta kya?! Mere pure 20 rupay ke chips!"

Karishma instantly got annoyed too.

Karishma: "Amma tumko dekh ke chadhna chahiye na! Khud se bada bag leke aayi ho."

The girl gasped dramatically.

Girl: "Bag pe personal attack kyun kar rahe ho?"

Karishma folded her arms immediately.

Karishma: "Kyuki bag ne pehle humpe attack kiya."

Nearby passengers had already started secretly enjoying the free entertainment.

The girl bent down picking chips dramatically one by one.

Girl: "Pata hai kitne important the ye?"

Karishma: "Haan lag he raha hai emotional attachment tha."

The girl looked up slowly.

Offended.

Deeply offended.

Meanwhile Karishma, already irritated from life in general, completely lost mood for going washroom and simply went back toward her seat instead.

Few moments later-

the same girl finally arrived near the berth dragging all three bags somehow.

Then suddenly she stopped.

Looked at Karishma.

Then the seat number.

Then Karishma again.

Girl: "Meri seat hai ye."

Karishma looked up lazily.

Karishma: "Humari bhi hai."

The girl immediately pointed toward the number plate dramatically.

Girl: "Mera seat number 15 hai. Lower berth."

Then narrowed eyes suspiciously.

Girl: "Tumhara 16 hoga. Upper berth."

Karishma looked once and then shrugged casually.

Karishma: "Haan toh? Raat hone se pehle hum yaha baith sakte hai. Phir chale jayenge upper."

The girl stared few more seconds.

Then finally sat down with attitude.

For next two minutes she aggressively fixed luggage placement like she was conducting military operation.

One bag under seat.

One chain se lock.

One side pe.

Then finally-

she stretched her hand forward confidently.

Girl: "Santosh Sharma here."

A pause.

Santosh: "Tumhara naam?"

Karishma honestly did not want conversation right now.

At all.

But after few seconds she still replied quietly-

Karishma: "Karishma Mal-"

She suddenly paused.

Monika's warning flashed inside her mind instantly.

Then calmly corrected-

Karishma: "Karishma Singh."

Santosh smiled brightly immediately.

Santosh: "Ohhh nice to meet you."

Then naturally-

Santosh: "Waise kaha ja rahi ho?"

Karishma looked at her blankly.

Karishma: "Bangalore ki train hai toh jahir si baat hai."

Santosh immediately frowned.

Santosh: "Haan toh flight nahi hai jo direct Bangalore rukegi. Beech mein stops hote hai."

Karishma slowly turned toward her.

Santosh also stared back.

Both already annoyed.

Santosh because her chips died unfairly.

Karishma because peace naam ki cheez life se officially gayab ho chuki thi.

Both simultaneously pulled out earphones with full attitude.

Both plugged them in aggressively.

And both started pretending to listen songs-

while secretly glaring at each other every thirty seconds with equal irritation.
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Few more minutes passed in complete fake silence.

Both girls sat with earphones plugged in aggressively while pretending they were absolutely not looking at each other every few seconds.

Outside, the dark night rushed past the moving train windows while the compartment lights dimmed slightly.

Suddenly-

Karishma removed one earphone irritably and grabbed her phone again.

Without thinking much-

she clicked on Papa's contact.

The call didn't connect.

Not reachable.

For few seconds she simply stared at the screen silently.

Then frustrated-

she threw the earphone beside herself harshly.

Santosh immediately looked toward her.

Till now she had been acting annoyed-

but now she understood something was wrong.

Karishma quickly looked outside the window again before tears could properly fall.

Her eyes had already turned red.

But she still refused letting the tears come out.

Santosh quietly removed one side of her earphones too.

Then after thinking for few seconds seriously-

Santosh: "Vaise tum murder mystery wali murderer toh nahi ho na?"

Karishma slowly looked toward her blankly.

Santosh nodded carefully.

Santosh: "Agar ho toh pehle batadena."

A pause.

Santosh: "Mai kisi aur ko lower berth de dungi."

Karishma stared at her for two seconds.

Then tiredly-

Karishma: "Tumhara dimag ghutno mein hai?"

Santosh gasped dramatically.

Santosh: "HAWW."

Then immediately turned away angrily.

"Huuuu."

Karishma already looked mentally exhausted by her existence.

Without replying further, she climbed toward her upper berth quietly.

Santosh looked up after few moments and noticed-

Karishma had opened a family picture on her phone.

And was just staring at it silently.

No expression.

No movement.

Just staring.

For the first time-

Santosh didn't joke.

Then suddenly-

"BHEL BHEL! MASALA BHEL!"

A vendor walked through the compartment loudly.

Santosh's entire personality activated instantly.

Her eyes widened like someone had revealed hidden treasure.

She immediately sat properly and looked toward the bhel wala with unbelievable happiness.

Then without warning-

she climbed halfway toward Karishma's berth and peeked upward dramatically.

Karishma looked down confusedly.

Santosh raised one eyebrow.

Santosh: "Bhel khaogi?"

Karishma instantly replied-

Karishma: "Nahi. Hume nahi khana."

Santosh nodded seriously.

Santosh: "Toh mujhe khila do."

Karishma blinked slowly.

Karishma: "Kyu hum kyu khilaye?"

Santosh immediately looked offended.

Santosh: "Ek toh chips gira diye."

Then emotionally-

Santosh: "Ab compensate bhi nahi kar rahi."

Karishma frowned.

Karishma: "Tum dekh ke nahi chal rahi thi usme hum kya kare?"

Santosh folded her arms dramatically.

Santosh: "Mere pass change nahi hai."

A pause.

Santosh: "500 ka note hai."

Then shamelessly-

Santosh: "Khila do ab."

Karishma stared at her in disbelief.

Actually unbelievable disbelief.

But after few seconds of silent judging-

she still gave money.

Santosh immediately smiled brightly like mission successful ho gaya.

Within two minutes she returned carrying two bhel packets proudly.

Then directly climbed onto upper berth too.

Santosh: "Arrey khisko na."

Without waiting permission she pushed Karishma slightly sideward and somehow adjusted herself there too.

Both packets opened dramatically.

Karishma looked at the extra one suspiciously.

Santosh casually started eating.

Then pointed toward second packet.

Santosh: "Khaogi nahi toh kaise chalega?"

Karishma looked away stubbornly.

Santosh continued normally-

Santosh: "Dekho khane pe gussa nahi nikalne ka."

Then softly pushed packet toward her.

Santosh: "Bindass khane ka."

Truthfully-

Karishma was hungry.

Very hungry.

But emotionally she still tried acting stubborn.

Right then-

her phone vibrated.

> PRIVATE SERVER ACTIVATED

Karishma's expression softened instantly.

A tiny smile appeared automatically.

Major Di actually made the server.

She quickly joined the call.

And saw-

Haseena had already connected too.

Since Karishma's earphones still lay somewhere below, the audio played openly.

Haseena's face appeared first.

Then Monika's.

The moment they saw Karishma, both sisters visibly relaxed slightly.

Karishma smiled weakly.

Karishma: "Hello Major... hello Hasu di..."

Monika immediately narrowed her eyes seeing someone else half-visible beside Karishma.

Monika: "Karu..."

A pause.

Monika: "Ye kaun hai?"

Santosh instantly leaned toward screen excitedly before Karishma could stop her.

Santosh waved happily.

Santosh: "Santosh Sharma here."

Then immediately pointed toward Karishma dramatically.

Santosh: "Isne subah mere chips gira diye the. Ab compensation mein bhel kha rahi hu."

Karishma slowly turned toward Santosh with pure warning expression.

Santosh immediately became quiet.

Meanwhile-

Monika was trying VERY hard not to laugh.

And Haseena had already muted herself because she was laughing openly.

Karishma looked toward the bhel packet again.

Then toward her sisters.

Then finally started eating quietly.

Seeing that-

both Monika and Haseena also grabbed snacks from nearby vendors almost automatically.

And for the first time since leaving Lucknow-

all three sisters sat far away in different trains...

yet still eating the same thing together.

Bhel.

The call continued softly after that.

Small conversations.

Small teasing.

Monika checking if Karishma locked luggage properly.

Haseena complaining about train chai.

Santosh randomly inserting herself into conversations without invitation.

And somewhere between all that noise-

Karishma finally stopped feeling completely alone.

After some time, both girls finally climbed down from upper berth.

And immediately froze.

An old uncle had fully occupied the lower berth comfortably with blanket and pillow.

Snoring aggressively.

Santosh blinked twice.

Then carefully shook him.

Santosh: "Uncle..."

The uncle woke up slowly.

Santosh: "Ye meri seat hai."

The uncle looked toward upper berth dramatically tired.

Uncle: "Beta umar ho gayi hai meri..."

Then emotionally-

Uncle: "Upper nahi chadha jata."

He pointed upward weakly.

Uncle: "Tum dono patle patle ho. Upar so jao."

Karishma and Santosh looked at each other.

The uncle immediately laid down again.

Within five seconds-

KHARRRRRRR.

Loud snoring resumed.

Both girls stood there silently.

Defeated.

Finally both climbed back upward again somehow adjusting painfully in one berth.

Santosh immediately blamed Karishma.

Santosh: "Sab tumhari wajah se hua."

Karishma looked offended instantly.

Karishma: "Humari wajah se?!"

Santosh nodded seriously.

Santosh: "Bhel lene niche aati toh uncle seat nahi lete."

Karishma almost looked ready to throw pillow at her.

Karishma: "Humne kaha tha lene, hume thi khana bhi nhi tha."

Then glaring-

Karishma: "Aur paise bhi humare lage."

Santosh gasped dramatically.

Santosh: "Sab kuch duniya mein paisa paisa."

Then emotionally turning away-

Santosh: "Itne pyaar se khilaya uska kuch nahi."

"Huuuu."

And with that she turned toward right side dramatically and slept facing away from Karishma.

Karishma kept glaring at her for few more seconds.

Completely done with this girl.

But slowly-

somewhere between train sounds,

dim lights,

and random chaos-

even she finally fell asleep too.

Both girls sleeping opposite directions.

Still annoyed.

Still strangers.

And unknowingly-

the beginning of something important had already started.
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✍️ - 2210 Words

That's it for today's chapter! ✨
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