The Departure of the Awesome Aliens of Gun Building!
I silently make my way through the grounds of the old manor, where the evil doctor has taken my friends prisoner. I have to be careful, for the night is cloudless and the moon is shining brightly. I know the grounds are guarded by creatures so foul that their name can’t be spoken in any earthly language, but I’ve been lucky enough not to run into any of them so far.
The estate is bigger than I had estimated. I steal a quick glance at my watch – it is almost midnight. If I don’t make it to the dungeon in the next few minutes, the doctor will extract my friends’ souls and feed them to the demons! I quicken my pace, forgetting all about the dark guards and my own safety.
I hear a voice in my head, a female voice saying “you’ll get late, hurry up!”. But I don’t have time to ponder. I continue, ignoring the voice. I can see the manor’s door now, and I sprint towards it, knowing that my friends are almost out of time. Just as I’m about to reach the door, a black robed, red faced creature springs out of nowhere and blocks my path. It is tall, muscular, and has a sword in its hand. Afraid that I might be too late if I let the battle drag on for too long, I unsheathe my own sword and charge towards the creature..
“Rahul, wake up! You’ll be late for school!” Mom’s shrill voice takes over my consciousness as I jolt out of my dream.
“MOOOM,” I say, while rubbing my eyes and stifling a yawn. “I was about to kill the dark guard and save my friends!”
“Yeah, sure, why don’t you ask one of them to go write your exam for you to return the favor?” she says, grinning.
I grin back and drag myself out of bed. Mom pats my head and asks me to get ready.
As I splash cold water on my face to wake myself up, I realize that today is my last exam, and we will be travelling to Delhi tomorrow morning, to visit my grandparents! I don’t really like Delhi – it’s so hot, and I don’t have anyone to play cricket with, and my grandmother eats my head all the time. But Rachna auntie does treat me to some tasty food, and I get to read a lot and buy some cool toys. And of course, there’s the train journey! We have been going to Delhi for my summer vacations for as long as I can remember, and the best part is always the train journey!
I’m staring at the mirror, daydreaming, with my toothbrush hanging out of my mouth, when my mom comes in and starts screaming at me. I quickly finish getting ready, but I can hear the school bell going off by the time I rush out of the house. Luckily, we live right behind my school, and I manage to make it in time.
As I sit in the classroom, waiting for the math question papers to be distributed, I start daydreaming about the train journey. My friend Nikhil, who sits next to me, taps my hand to get my attention. As I turn to face him, he winks at me. I wink back and smile at him. We have a secret pact to help each other out during exams.
After the exam, Nikhil and I exit the classroom together, with smug grins on our faces. We exchange our secret handshake and excitedly discuss how awesome our pact is. As we are walking towards the school gate, we see Gauri. My heart skips a beat as I see that she is looking towards me, smiling. Nikhil knows that I really like her, so he quietly keeps walking as I stop to talk to her.
“How was your exam?” she asks.
“It was g-good, how w-w-was yours?” I reply in a strange, high pitched voice. How did I always manage to look like an idiot in front of her?
“Mine was good too,” she replies with a giggle. “What are you doing for the holidays?”
“I am g-going to Delhi to visit my grandparents,” I reply, with less stammering and more smiles. “What about you?”
“My grandparents live in our house only, so I’ll just stay at home,” she says. Oh, she is so pretty!
We say bye to each other and I start walking towards the main gate. I see mom waiting for me, smiling and waving, and I pretend to look away. What if Gauri sees my mom treating me like such a kid?
***
We are finally at the Secunderabad railway station! It’s 6.30 in the morning and I can barely keep my eyes open. I walk with mom, holding her hand, as dad walks next to the coolie who is carrying our suitcases. My backpack is slung across my shoulders. It has the Famous Five book I’m reading, and my secret diary.
The station is already very busy, with breakfast vendors shouting at the top of their voices, and people rushing in all directions. I start to get excited.
Once we reach the platform, I go to the edge and peer towards both sides, trying to see if our train is coming yet.
“Honey, that’s dangerous!” Mom says, and pulls me away.
I walk to the magazine stall and start looking wistfully at the comics they have. Dad shows up beside me and picks up a couple of newspapers. Then he looks at me and says, “Go on, which ones do you want?”
My eyes light up, as I pick out the latest editions of Tinkle Digest and Chacha Chaudhary. Dad pays for them and we walk back to where mom is waiting, with me carrying my newly acquired comic books with pride.
Soon, a loud horn blares and our train begins pulling in to the platform. I watch with growing excitement as everything around us suddenly bursts to life. People start gathering their luggage. Some of them start walking forward quickly, to catch up with their bogies. As our bogie passes by, dad leads the way towards it and I follow with mom.
Once we’re inside, dad puts the suitcases under our seats. I quickly rush to the window seat and sit down with my backpack. I love looking out of the window, especially when the train is travelling at full speed. I carefully look outside. Breakfast vendors are trying to sell food to passengers through the windows. People are saying goodbye to each other. Coolies are carrying 3 or 4 large bags or pulling along luggage carts.
The train’s horn blares. I know that the driver sounds the horn twice before the train begins to move, to give people time to get inside safely. I look inside. Mom and dad are sitting next to me. An old, fat lady comes and sits on the berth opposite ours, followed by a mother and her little daughter. The little girl looks as old as me. She looks at me with a smug face, as she munches on a chocolate her mother has just given her. I decide that she is annoying.
Soon, the horn blares a second time, and the train starts moving forward slowly. I look outside again as the platform begins to slide backwards. Some people are walking along the train, waving. Slowly, the train starts gathering speed. It has become quite fast by the time it pulls out of the station. As the cool morning breeze hits my face, I feel a rush of excitement going through me.
Once the train is at full speed, I take out my comic books from my backpack. As a rule, I never start reading till the train has caught full speed. It feels wrong, somehow. After spending a few minutes pondering over which one to read, I open the Tinkle Digest and start reading a chapter on Suppandi the Simple. The old lady has fallen asleep, with her head leaning against the window. The girl is also sleeping, with her head on her mother’s lap. I feel awesome for reading instead of falling asleep.
I lose track of time as I read, and it is 10.30 by the time I finish reading my comics. Dad buys us some breakfast from the vendors who walk around in the train. I eat hungrily. When I go to wash my hands, I stand near the basin for a while afterwards. A man is standing at the door, looking outside. The view is much better from the door, as there are no bars.
I walk back after I get bored. The train is moving at full speed, and I’m walking in the direction the train is going. “Dad, look, I’m walking faster than the train!” I tell my father gleefully.
“That’s true, son,” dad replies, smiling widely as if I’d said something really smart. The little girl looks at me like I’m an idiot.
I climb to the top berth. Till last year, I was too scared to climb to the top berth alone, this year I manage. Feeling proud of myself, I peer down and ask mom to hand me my backpack. I take out my Famous Five novel and start reading.
***
I awake with a start. The train is coming to a halt. I quickly glance at my watch. It reads 3 pm. I breathe a sigh of relief and start looking around. Mom is sleeping on the lower berth, and dad is sitting by the window, looking outside. The old lady is now awake and is reading a Hindi book. The little girl is also reading. I feel silly for falling asleep, and quickly start reading my own book.
The train stands still for quite a long while. I start to get annoyed. I look at my watch again – it is 3.30 pm. I climb down and sit next to dad. Mom has also woken up. She looks tired.
“Why is the train not moving, dad?” I ask.
“I don’t know son,” dad replies. “There may have been some fault in the line.”
“What is a fault in the line?” I ask.
“Something like a power failure, or a signal not working correctly,” dad replies.
“Oh, okay,” I say. “I’m really waiting for the mountains to start. They’re my favorite part of the journey.”
“I know, son,” dad says, “we’ll be there soon.”
I get more annoyed as the train stands still for 10 more minutes before finally lurching to a start. I start getting excited again as the train picks up speed. I take the window seat from my dad and start looking outside eagerly, checking the time every few minutes. The watch was a gift from my parents for my ninth birthday last year, and I am very proud of it. I sometimes keep it on even while bathing, it is a waterproof model.
A road runs next to the railway tracks, I can see trucks and buses and cars moving on it. But the train is moving much faster than them. The road turns into a railway crossing, and a line of vehicles are waiting behind the barricade, for us to pass. We cross an empty station and I see a building near it with “ABANDONED” written on it. It looks like a nice hideout, but before I can look closely, the train has crossed it. As the train goes through a slight curve, I can see the mountains ahead in the distance. I start getting excited.
The old woman is looking at me with a smile on her face. I look back at her.
“Look at the trees, little one,” she says. “They’re running backwards!”
“No they’re not!” I reply.
“Yes they are,” she insists. “If you look closely enough, you can see it!”
And so I start looking carefully at the trees, and it does seem like they’re running in the opposite direction. I look at the old woman again and smile.
Pretty soon, the mountains start. I’m really happy. I have a big grin on my face as the train passes through one tunnel after next, it’s horn echoing through them. I really like how it suddenly becomes pitch black, and just as suddenly, all bright again. But it is the red valley I’m really waiting for.
After passing through a very long tunnel, we finally enter the red valley. The hills are very close to the railway track, and slope downwards very gently. And they are covered with trees as far as I can see – trees which have huge red leaves. It is really beautiful, and I feel happy when I look at the trees. The old lady is looking at me, smiling.
***
It’s night. We eat dinner and lie down on our berths to go to sleep. I can see that the old woman and her family have already fallen asleep. The train will reach Delhi in the morning. As I fall asleep, I think about the red valley and how I actually want to go there someday, not just look at it from the window of a train.
I wake up suddenly. It is dark, and it takes me a minute to remember where I am. I realize that the train isn’t moving. Then I hear someone sobbing softly, as if in pain. I look down to see that mom is lying on her side, holding her stomach. It is she who is sobbing. I can’t see dad anywhere. I suddenly feel an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach. Then I realize that I’m shivering.
A part of me wants me to close my eyes and hope this is just a dream. Another part tells me to go down to mom. I slowly get up and climb down, almost slipping on my way because my hands are trembling. I sit down next to mom and start stroking her head. She sees me and smiles weakly.
“W-What happened, mom?” I ask, trying not to cry.
“I’m a little ill, baby,” mom replies. “I have a stomachache.”
“Will you be okay?” I ask.
“Yes, I will. Don’t worry,” she says. But she sounds very weak.
“A-and where’s dad?” I ask.
“He has gone looking to see if he can find a doctor,” she replies.
I nod and look at my watch. It is 3 am. I keep stroking my mom’s head for a while. She has closed her eyes as if she’s sleeping, but she moves around uncomfortably. I close my eyes and start to pray.
Please make my mom feel okay, God. I will give you my nice books and I will pray every day. Just make my mom feel okay.
I repeat my prayer over and over again, under my breath. I am very scared. The old woman is also awake now, she looks at me kindly and says, “Don’t worry child, your mom will be okay soon.”
After a few minutes, dad comes back along with a man carrying a briefcase in his hand. It looks like he has managed to find a doctor! Dad gently wakes mom up. The doctor asks her where she’s feeling the pain, and asks her a few more questions. He then takes out some medicine from his briefcase and asks mom to take it every two hours till we reach Delhi. Dad thanks the doctor and he leaves. Mom takes the medicine, and she immediately feels better. She drifts off into sleep with dad and I watching over her.
“You’re a brave boy, son” dad says, patting me on the back. “Go back to sleep now. Your mom will be okay.”
I feel better already. I thank God, climb back to the top berth, and fall asleep immediately.
***
Mom shakes me awake in the morning.
“MOOOM, I don’t want to get up yet,” I say irritably.
“Okay. You will miss the gun building, but up to you,” she says sweetly.
“OH! The gun building!” I exclaim happily, feeling very awake. I sit up and rub my eyes. I look down at mom – she is looking much better than last night. I smile at her, and she smiles back. I pack my books back inside my backpack and climb down.
As I sit down next to the window, I notice the old woman looking at me again. She smiles at me and hands me a sweet. “You’re a god boy. Here, take this,” she says.
“Thank you, ma’am,” I say and happily accept the sweet.
The train is moving much slower now. I check my watch – the time is 8.30 am. I know we are about to reach the Delhi station soon – we are already moving through the city. I keep my eyes peeled as I watch out for the gun building. It is shaped very differently than normal buildings. Half the building is taller than the other half, and it looks a little like an alien space gun I had when I was really small. I don’t tell my parents, but I think that it is actually the hidden base of aliens who are on earth for a top secret mission. Every time we cross the building, I feel a little sad for the aliens because they haven’t been able to return to their home planet yet. But I really like looking at the gun building.
“We’re almost there, son, the gun building should be right around the corner,” dad says.
My heart starts beating faster as I get excited. But as we turn the corner, the gun building is not there! I slam my hand against the window, a little sad, but more excited. Dad is looking out for it with me, so he pats my head and says, “It’s okay, son. They must have demolished the building, it was quite old anyway. How about we go to the planetarium today?”
I don’t reply, but a wide grin is pasted on my face. I think about explaining it to dad, but I decide that he won’t believe me. I’m so happy for the aliens!
By 9.30, the train pulls into Delhi station. As mom and dad are taking the suitcases out from under the berth, I see my grandfather waiting for us on the platform. I rush out to meet him, screaming “GRANDPAAA”. I almost trip over myself in my excitement.
***
Note: This story was written for an anthology about Indian Railways.
