Story-[6]

Midnight at the Train Station

The first time they met, it was a mistake.

Elara had missed her train. The schedule said 11:45 PM, but she had arrived a minute too late, just in time to watch the train pull away, taking with it her plans, her patience, and her last thread of luck for the day. She sighed and sank onto the cold wooden bench, rubbing her gloved hands together.

"Missed yours too?"

The voice came from the other end of the bench. She turned. A man sat there, dressed in a dark coat, a scarf wrapped snugly around his neck. His fingers tapped absently against the worn leather cover of a book.

She hesitated, then exhaled a small, half-laugh. "Yeah."

The man nodded as if he understood. "Midnight train's the last one out," he said. "Might as well keep each other company while we wait."

And so, they talked. The usual small talk at first—where are you from, what do you do, how did you end up here so late? But then it deepened.

She learned that his name was Leo and he loved reading books about places he'd never been, that he had an old dog named Winston. He learned that she was Elara and rhat she worked in a bakery, that she had dreams of opening her own café, that she collected postcards from places she'd never visited. But they shared on thing in common that they were both fresh graduates having first introduction of the harsh society.

Then the midnight train arrived.

They looked at each other as the whistle sounded.

"Same next time?" He asked, half-joking.

She smiled. "Why not?"

And then she boarded her train, and he boarded his, heading in opposite directions.

---

After six months

She didn't expect him to be there.

Life had moved on—work, relationships, responsibilities. But something had tugged at her when the date approached, a quiet whisper that said: What if?

And there he was. Sitting in the same spot, book in hand.

"You came," he said, as if they had merely stepped away for a moment .

"You too."

They talked again. This time, they skipped the small talk. They spoke of the past months—of near successes and almost failures, of things they had loved and people they had lost.

And then, just like before, the train came. And they left.

----

The third meeting

By now, it was tradition to see each other at the station.

They never exchanged phone numbers, never tried to stay in touch. Just one night,six months away. That was the rule.

Once he arrived with a bandaged hand, laughing about a cooking mishap. Another, she showed up wearing a scarf from Paris, telling him about the café she had finally opened.

They asked about the things that mattered. They avoided the things that didn't.Neither ever asked, What if we met more than twice a year?It wasn't a part of the tradition.

----

The night was colder than usual. Snow drifted onto the empty tracks. She shivered as she pulled her coat tighter. He hadn't arrived yet.

She checked the time. 11:58 PM.

He's coming.

But the clock struck midnight, and the train arrived, and he was nowhere to be seen.

For the first time, she didn't board the train. She sat there as the train pulled away, waiting. Hoping.

But...

He never came.

---

After a whole year

She told herself she wouldn't check on him.

But on the night of their meeting, she found herself at the station, sitting in the same spot, watching the tracks like they held answers.

And then, at 11:59 PM, she heard footsteps.

She turned—and there he was.

Paler. But there.

"Hey," he said, his voice softer than she remembered.

"You missed both times last year."

"I know." He hesitated, then sat beside her. "I was in the hospital."

Her breath caught. "Are you—?"

"I'm okay now," he said quickly.

Although they had known each other for three years and had met only four times, there was a deep understanding between them, they felt as if they were in a long distance relationship.

A desire to see the other and know their well-being grew in them.They sat in silence, the weight of the missing year pressing between them.

"Elena," Leo said finally. "Do you ever wonder what would happen if we didn't say goodbye?"

Her heart pounded. "Yes."

The midnight train's whistle blew in the distance.

Leo reached for her hand.

"Let's not say goodbye this time."

She held on tight. "Okay."

And when the train arrived, they boarded together towards a future that belonged to them together.