Last Train (Short Love Story )
Raj sprinted down the station platform, his heart racing as fast as his feet. The train to Pune had just left. Raj sees with his eyes the train disappearing into the distance, its lights fading into the foggy night. He stopped, panting, his hands on his knees, raj muttering to himself, “Why didn’t I leave earlier?”
Across the platform,Meera was also looking frustrated.She, too, had missed the last train,
She is complaining about his head thanks to her cab driver’s inability to find the station. Meera Clutching her purse, she looked at her watch—10:45 PM. She was stranded in the middle of a city that wasn’t hers, and the next train wasn’t coming until morning.
Both eyes met by accident. Raj noticed her standing a few meters away, and there was something about her—her aura, maybe—that made him pause for a moment. She didn’t look panicked, just… disappointed, as if she was used to things not going as planned.
“Missed the train too?” Raj asked, stepping closer to Meera , trying to make light of the situation.
Meera nodded, giving a warm smile to raj . “Yeah, and there’s no point in asking when the next one is, right?”
Raj chuckled. “Nope, so we’re stuck here till morning.”
For a moment, silence settled between too.
Raj break the a silence between too,
“I’m Raj, by the way,” he said with his charming smile, offering his hand.
“Meera,” she replied, shaking it gently.
They found a bench under a flickering streetlight and sat down, resigned to their shared fate. The cold night air nipped at them, but the station was mostly deserted, leaving them with no distractions except each other.
“So,” Meera began after a moment, “what brings you to this train station in the middle of the night?”
Raj stretched his legs out, leaning back against the bench. “Work, actually. Client meeting ran way longer than it should’ve. And you?”
“Family function,” Meera said with her charming smiles, shaking her head. “One of those giant gatherings where everyone asks you what you’re doing with your life and when you’re getting married.”
Raj laughed. “Sounds like fun.”
“It wasn’t,” she deadpanned, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
The station wasn’t entirely empty. A group of college students sat in a huddle nearby, playing cards and chatting loudly. Every now and then, their laughter would break the quiet night, adding a strange sense of normalcy to the scene. An elderly couple sat on another bench, the woman dozing off on her husband’s shoulder, while he kept watch on their luggage.
In between their conversations, Meera and Raj would catch glimpses of these little lives around them—people stuck in the same situation but dealing with it in their own way.
“Ever notice how people get weird at night in places like this?” Raj asked, glancing at the students.
Meera followed his gaze and smiled. “Yeah, it’s like everyone becomes part of this strange, unspoken community. No one knows each other, but we’re all in the same boat.”
They shared a moment of quiet understanding. As the night grew darker, their conversation deepened. They moved beyond the surface topics and began sharing pieces of themselves that they usually kept hidden.
“So, what do you really want to do?” Raj asked, leaning forward. “I mean, aside from teaching.”
Meera looked at him, surprised. “How did you know I’m a teacher?”
“Something about the way you talk. You’re patient, you listen well. That’s all a teacher trait, right?”
Meera laughed softly. “Maybe. But yeah, I love teaching. Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about taking a break. I want to travel. See the world a bit.”
“Why not just do it?” Raj asked.
She shrugged, her gaze distant. “I guess I’m a little scared. What if I leave, and everything changes? What if I come back, and I don’t belong anywhere anymore?”
Raj nodded his head , understanding. “I get that. I’ve been scared of change for a long time. My parents divorced when I was a kid. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to hold on to stability, even if it meant not taking risks.”
Meera looked at him, her eyes softening. “That must’ve been hard.”
“It was,” Raj admitted. “But… I don’t know.meera Meeting you tonight, it feels like maybe change isn’t so bad.”
Both fell into a comfortable silence, watching as the elderly man from earlier gently shook his wife awake. The train station now felt more like a temporary refuge, a place where time had paused just for them.
“Do you believe in fate?” Meera asked suddenly to raj , her voice barely above a whisper.
Raj glanced at Meera for a moment , surprised by the question. “I used to. But then life happened. Things went sideways, and I started thinking it was all just random.”
Meera nodded, then smiled thoughtfully. “I don’t know… Tonight feels like fate to me. Like we were supposed to miss that train. You and I.”
Raj’s heart skipped a beat. There was something in her words, something that resonated with the strange pull he had felt ever since they started talking. It was as if the universe had conspired to bring them together at this exact moment.
“Maybe you’re right,” Raj said softly. “Maybe we were supposed to meet tonight.”
As the first light of dawn crept across the sky, casting a pale blue glow over the station, Meera sighed. “The morning’s here.”
Raj looked at her, his heart heavy. He didn’t want the night to end, didn’t want to lose the connection they had found in the most unlikely of places.
“So… what now?” Meera asked, her voice hesitant.
“I don’t know,” Raj replied, standing up and offering his hand. “But I think we should find out.”
Meera looked at him for a long moment, then smiled. She took his hand, and together they walked towards the rising sun, not knowing where they were headed, but trusting that wherever it was, it was meant to be.