Broken Screen

Shreni and Mihira soon found that they could find no Viraj. There was still a good amount of crowd on the platform. Shreni felt lost for a moment or two. Could Viraj have really boarded the train? She put her palm on her forehead and sat down on a bench. She began to feel if that yellow-shirt-guy who pushed her in the train was him. He did not know no one was in the train!

Shreni and Mihira sat in silence for a moment. Then Mihira recalled of having told by Shreni that Apoorva was seen in the Nallapuram station.

"You told you saw Apoorva in Nallapuram?" she asked Shreni. Her face brightened with hope.

She could see a local train on the platform, arriving just then. Shreni caught an old lady's wrist and asked if that train was supposed to go to Nallapuram next. The old lady nodded. That was the only thing Shreni wanted. She hopped into the train with Mihira in her hand.

They, in their hurry, missed a really needed help; Daktar was just coming out of the same train from the car beside theirs. He rushed out of the train and looked around. He called an old woman and asked if the Mancherial Express had left.

The old woman, muttering "Why does everyone keep asking me things today?" did not answer. He had no time to waste. He ran to the enquiry centre and asked for the Mancherial Express. A moment later, his face turned white and red at the same time. He screamed at himself. 'Viraj and Mihira might have got into the train. Why did they not do something for me? Maybe at least try and call me!' Then he remembered where his phone actually was.

His dropped eyes thought he caught a sight of Mihira in the exact train in which he reached there. He twisted his eyebrows and rubbed his eyes to see more clearly. It was Mihira with Shreni indeed! He ran fast, shouting her name. Neither Mihira, nor Shreni noticed Daktar yelling. Daktar was halfway from the enquiry centre, when the train hooted and moved out of the station.

* * *

Yugank kept saying to himself that he will not be able to reach Shivadwar in time. He looked at his watch. More than seven minutes passed by since when he asked the lady at the enquiry centre. An announcement was heard over the speakers and the local train he was waiting for, has come. He ran into one of the cars. Little did he know that Apoorva was on the same train!

She sprinted out from the other car and started looking around for Yugank. She couldn't see him on the platform. The train behind her, set off again. Apoorva ran through the over-bridge and onto the first platform.

'Yugank might not have come from where he went the last time' she thought, 'Ugh. How long does he take?' Despite her hurry, she had to wait in the station hall, impatiently. She, in the next second, took her phone out and called Yugank. It rang in her pocket. 'Why did he even give his phone to me?' Then she remembered Daktar and called him. The call was not answered.

* * *

Shreni and Mihira were in Nallapuram in no time. The station contained a remarkable amount of people. They looked everywhere.

"Mihira" Shreni said after a moment, "You search for Apoorva in the second platform; I will search for her in the station hall and the first platform; and we meet again, after exactly five minutes and exactly here"

"What if we get lost again?" Mihira asked.

"We won't. Don't you have a phone?" asked Shreni crossly.

"I don't" replied Mihira sarcastically, "Do you?"

Shreni looked at her for a moment, her eyes narrowed. "Fine" she said, "Let us both look for her together"

They searched across platforms for Apoorva. They couldn't find her there. 'I saw her here' thought Shreni, 'She must be here somewhere!'

They searched everywhere, to every end of the platforms. Finally, they stopped at an end of the first platform. They couldn't find Apoorva near the shops, in the station hall or in any of the platforms. Shreni was working in her mind, the plan of what she must do then. All of a sudden, a familiar sound came out of nowhere. It was that awful ringtone of Daktar's phone. Shreni looked everywhere about and found the phone before a pillar, at her feet. She picked it up. The phone was the one that made the sound. The screen of the phone was broken. 'It's Daktar's!' Shreni said, 'Why in the world would it be here?'

The sound came from the phone again. Apoorva was calling. Shreni immediately picked it up with hope.

"Daktar!" said Apoorva, panting, "I've been calling you for ages!"

"Apoorva, this is Shreni. Where are you? I came to Nallapuram to find you but you're not here!"

"Why are you in Nallapuram? And… you aren't in Mancherial Express? And… Daktar's with you?" asked Apoorva, surprised.

"I came here to find you! And… no; And... no again. I found his phone here"

"Why in the world would it be there?"

"I don't know. Daktar might have already reached Shivadwar. Where are you though?"

"I've come back to Devanagari for Yugank. Come meet me here in the station hall!" Apoorva noticed her phone having really low battery, "Quick! My phone's going to be dead!"

The call got cut.

"What did she say?" Mihira asked. Shreni's face glowed with hope, once again. She told Mihira that Apoorva was waiting for them in Devanagari. In their excitement of finding Apoorva soon, they took the train that was on the first platform. they stood freely, in the car having less crowd. The doors of the car were closed and the floor below them rumbled. The train hooted. It just set to move when Mihira, who was looking at the window, touched Shreni arm, her smile turning flat. Shreni asked her what was wrong. Mihira pointed out to the platform. Shreni looked out of the window too.

"People?" she said. Mihira shook her head.

Electric poles appeared after the train quit the station.

"Poles?" Shreni asked.

Mihira said coldly after a while, "Those poles are supposed to go right if this train's going to Devanagari". Shreni looked closely. The electric poles moved left. "Did you even enquire where this train was going?"