Night in an Empty Tube Railway Station

The work has been particularly taxing today

That stretched much beyond the usual time

Making the Young Man

Scamper to catch the Last Train for home.

As his jittery steps hurtled down the stairs

Of the Tube Railway Station

He could hear the Train entering the Platform.

The escalators were not operational at that time

Due to some malfunction

Making things even tougher for him.

In a desperate lunge

To cover the remaining steps in double quick time

He stretched his leg muscles to the point of extreme strain

And ended up slipping thereby

Falling down in a heap

Just about midway

Hurting the back and lower limbs quite badly.

As he somehow regained some lost strength

To limp through the final stairs

And reach the Platform

Only the fading sound of the Train’s exit was audible

Casting a hapless soul

To the realms of uncertainty and indecisiveness.

A Cascade of unknown Sadness

Washed away all his blood

Choking him with crippling despair

To a sudden unfastened collapse

That burst all his hope

Unto a Scream less pain of non-existence!

As he slumped into one of the Platform waiting chairs

The lights went out all of a sudden

Adding to his misery.

It was just a little power failure

But enough for the gatekeepers and staff

To be completely oblivious of his presence

At the Platform

And so the already hurting Young Man

Was left deserted by all to suffer through a Night of absolute Emptiness!

The lights beamed back to life

A little later

But it was of little help

As the lights within just remained switched off for the day!

The void sphere engulfs time and space within itself

Making it look like perpetual suffering

As the hapless human mind

Just keeps tossing and turning

Within such a sphere

In utmost desperation to be free from the dungeon

But the orifice is just a delusion of a deceitful world

That doesn’t want to alleviate Pain or Suffering.

So many thoughts started clogging the mind of the Young Man

Like a barrage of high Sea waves lashing against the shore

In futile efforts to disintegrate the lump of darkness.

He thought about his family members

And other Near and Dear ones

Including his love interest in life

How much they could have helped

How should they have reacted seeing him suffer like this?

He even tried calling a few phone numbers from his cell phone

But the signal was weak for a connection.

So in the end the Young Man resigned to his fate

And decided to somehow survive through this endless Night

In hope of a new better tomorrow.

But the Night was simply not ready to let him off the hook just like that

As the clock kept ticking on ever so slowly

With every beat just doubling his heart rate.

An uncanny fear of death suddenly sent a chill down his spine

And the Young Man broke down to tears

To release all the pent up emotions

He was trying desperately to keep in check.

With his face buried between his hands

He let it all out

Without any shame or guilt in the absence of any human presence

And it was quite a lot in the end.

The Platform, the railway tracks, the lights – including a few flickering ones, the fibre roof – all bore silent testimony of the Young Man’s suffering on that Night

While he just kept waiting and waiting……..

For the Sun to rise finally!