Only her voice could be heard—
“Sumit... wait for me.”
I opened my eyes with a start.
My breathing had quickened.
It was Haseena’s voice.
But why was that night twenty years ago so hazy in my memories? And the biggest question of all...
Had I really left Haseena that night?
Or had someone truly erased that night from my memory on purpose?
To be continued...
Coming up next: Two (2): Sumit’s Secret
Only her voice could be heard—
“Sumit... wait for me.”
I opened my eyes with a start.
My breathing had quickened.
It was Haseena’s voice.
But why was that night twenty years ago so hazy in my memories? And the biggest question of all...
Had I really left Haseena that night?
Or had someone truly erased that night from my memory on purpose?
To be continued...
Coming up next: Two (2): Sumit’s Secret!
I remained seated for a while. Haseena’s voice was still echoing in my ears— “Sumit... wait for me.”
I opened my eyes and looked ahead. The seat in front of me was empty. The same seat where Haseena had been sitting a short while ago.
But this time, there was no white cloth, no silver ring, and no sign of her at all. I took a deep breath. “What do you want from me, Haseena?” My voice echoed through the coach and faded away.
Just then, the train suddenly began to slow down. Clack... clack... clack... I looked out the window. The dense fog was still moving alongside the train. Suddenly, I felt as if someone was running beside me in the fog.
I narrowed my eyes and looked. A blurry shadow. I immediately rose from my seat. The hazy shadow kept pace with the train for a short distance, then suddenly vanished into the fog.
I leaned my head back. “Maybe I’m imagining things...” I told myself.
But then a voice came from the seat across from me— “You think that every time... that everything is just an illusion. Try thinking things through before you make a decision.”
A shiver ran through my body, and I slowly looked ahead. The seat across from me was empty.
But this time, the voice had been perfectly clear. I looked around. The other passengers in the coach were absorbed in their own worlds. No one else had heard anything. Then my eyes fell on the windowpane.
A thin layer of condensation had formed on it. And someone had written across the mist with a finger: “Remember, Sumit. Try to remember.”
I reached out to touch the glass with a trembling hand. But before I could, the words disappeared.
Suddenly, another image began to appear before my eyes. An old railway platform. The same fog from twenty years ago. Haseena was standing in front of me. She was crying.
I was moving toward her. Then someone grabbed my hand from behind. I turned around. There I was, standing behind myself.
I opened my eyes with a start. My heart was pounding so hard that I felt the people sitting nearby must be able to hear it.
“Two...” The word slipped quietly from my mouth. “Two Sumits...?”
Then someone spoke from behind me— “Now you’re starting to remember.”
I turned around. The same old man was standing near the door. The moment I saw him, I asked, “Who are you?”
He slowly walked toward me. “The night Haseena disappeared... I was there too.”
I couldn’t say a word. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
Looking into my eyes, the old man said, “Because if you remembered the truth... you might not be sitting here today.”
I asked in a panic, “What happened that night?”
He remained silent for a few moments. Then he pulled an old photograph from his pocket. “Look at this.”
I took the photograph. The moment I saw it, the ground seemed to drop away beneath my feet. Haseena was standing in the picture.
I was on one side of her. And on the other side... stood another man who looked just like me. I kept staring at the photograph. “Who is he?”
In a low voice, the old man said, “That is the secret you’ve forgotten for the past twenty years.”
I brought the photograph closer and examined it. Suddenly, I noticed the date written on the back. Twenty years ago. And beneath it, there was only one line— “Who was the real Sumit that night?” My hands began to tremble.
I looked toward the old man. But... he was gone. I frantically searched the entire coach.
There was no old man anywhere. Then my eyes fell on the seat across from me. Someone was sitting there. I slowly moved toward him. He lifted his face toward me. And the moment I saw him, I froze. It was me. The same face. The same eyes. The same sly smile.
Looking at me, he said only one thing— “This time, you won’t be able to save Haseena, no matter how hard you try.”
All the lights in the train went out at once. And in the darkness, I heard Haseena scream— “Sumit...!”
To be continued...