So I’m alone on this 22-hour train ride going to Bangalore and it was about 11:30pm when I decided that I should sleep. I made my bed, put all my important things in my small bag and packed it and myself into a large burrito with a thick, wool blanket that really didn’t smell all that great (but hey, that’s all a part of the experience).
At 1:38am I was jerked awake by the high speeds of the train. I had to wrestle my arm that was drooping over my bed and somehow got tangled in all of the ropes of my large hiking pack. Confused as to how this happened, I assumed I had grabbed it in my sleep so someone else wouldn’t and dismissed my confusion. The back of my head felt like I had been hit by a shovel, my shoulder felt like it used to after long softball tournaments, and my throat felt like I hadn’t drank water in weeks. I checked my phone to see the time, assuming I was already halfway through my night, but I found that it had barely begun.
I felt like complete crap and rolled over to attempt to sleep again and thats when I saw it. I saw one of the most breathtaking sights I’d ever seen. I had left my window curtains open and could see it all. I just stopped. Everything was stopped while everything was moving. It was like everything and everyone was paused except me and this train. I stared out the window for a good five minutes just watching the night pass. There was just something surreal about watching the pitch black silhouettes in the still-dark, but slightly-less-dark sky, passing at a high speed. I have a friend who told me how much he loves silhouettes of landscape in the night time, but I never really saw the beauty of it until tonight. Amidst the snores and heavy breathing, I felt like I was the only one seeing this, like I was the only one who wasn’t paused.
I could have watched it for hours without a moment of boredom, but I could no longer keep my head up or my eyes open. So I fell back asleep quickly and paused myself like everyone else.
