after a rather long stretch of (seemingly) dreamless nights, I had 2 nightmares in a row. strangely though, while today's would qualify as a nightmare, it didn't feel like one - just an unpleasant dream that i woke up from because my alarm was ringing. and yes, i'm working today 🤦♂️
i was in mumbai. in an outstation train. it was a day train, as there were only seats, no bunk beds. the train had all seats occupied, as far as i could tell. i was travelling alone. i must have boarded the train at its start point, as it was still in mumbai. i had a window seat, with my back to the direction the train was travelling. i didn't really pay attention to anyone sitting around, although there were people sitting on all available seats. there was one guy sitting diagonally across me, who looked Scottish, and did attempt to exchange pleasantries near the start of the journey. other than that, i just buried myself in my tablet, put on some music on my ipod, and kept to myself.
minutes into the journey, i felt i would enjoy a book more than my tablet, and thought I could ask my brother to drop off the book at borivali, when the trian passed it. i called him, and he agreed. he told me to inform him two stations before the train got to borivali, so he could get there in time. he also asked me which coach of the train i'm in, and I didn't know that. so at the next station, I got off, and started counting coaches. unfortunately, the doors closed and the train moved off before I could get back on - and that's where the dream turned into a nightmare.
i had left all my stuff on my bag (which, strangely enough, was a yellow backpack!) which was on my seat.
the only thing to do was to chase the outstation train in a local train, and try to catch up with it. i tried to get on a train, and it was super crowded. i could not enter. i finally managed to squeeze into the next train, and then noticed i had even broken my watch in the scramble to get on the train. in fact, i didn't have my phone or wallet either - i literally had nothing on me. anxious, i stood near the door of the train, trying to figure which track it would end up on so i'd know which direction to run to get to the outstation train. the train i was on was supposed to be a fast train, but it kept halting at signals. realistically, i had very slim chances but i was hopeful.
at that point, a guy said hi to me. it was rohit, my classmate from school! he got to the doorway and stood with me, but before we could exhange pleasantries he noticed the anxiety on my face and asked me what's up. i explained the situation, and he offered me his phone so i could call my brother.
his phone was a super ancient nokia, a silver coloured one that had a pull out antenna. i have a feeling that was the actual phone he had when we were in school! the keys were so badly worn that they would randomly press multiple times even when pressed once. after a bit of fighting the keypad i managed to call my brother and tell him simply: i've lost everything, my phone, wallet, etc. he asked me how. i tried explaining but then he realized it was pointless. he asked me what he should do.
i told him: nothing. just don't worry about bringing the books to the station. i'll try to chase the train to its destination.
and that's when shruti's alarm went off (why did she have an alarm? she isn't working today!) and i woke up and dashed out of bed, probably before she realized it was ringing.
my first thought when i woke up was: shouldn't i have just asked my brother to get to the station, get on the train, collect my stuff, and wait for me to get there? or at least, lend me some cash so i'm not travelling across the country with no money?
either way - no more nightmares this year! 2022, here we come!!!
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