The metallic voice that announced the arrival of the train pierced the heavy silence of the cold winter morning and brought me out of my reverie. I hugged my jacket close to my body and made way to the general compartment.

The bustle of the city life had just begun and chaos had already settled in. Passengers wandered aimlessly searching for god knew what.

I boarded the bogey and my eyes scanned for an empty seat. I wasn't disappointed. I rushed to the seat and settled down. It was going to be a long journey.

I took out my headphones and plugged them into my phone and within minutes I was lost in my playlist. The train started moving after a while and the compartment started filling in.

The stations passed by as I stared out of the window letting the gentle drizzle strike against my face. After a while I removed the headphones and watched the life that went on around me.

The chaiwalla's calls intermingled with the the chattering of the passengers made me immediately regret coming out of my musical solace.

The passengers started dwindling one by one when the train stopped at a major station and that was when she boarded the train.

She made a beeline to my seat and sat next to me and punched me in my arms. Shreya , the reason for many a sleepless nights.

I removed my headphones and listened as she went on from one topic to another. Then she took a headphone and gave me the other one and she started playing her favourite songs.

The train began to move. The winter cold slowly crept up into the bogey. She moved closer to me and placed her head on my shoulder.

The raindrops clung to her hair like stars in the night sky. She held my hand and whispered , " I love you ". I looked at her and smiled.

I looked out of the window and the greenery blurred past. That was when I finally realized that life was reduced to moments like this , moments that we love , moments that actually matter. Just moments.

~KK