Authored: October 10, 2016

He gets on just as the doors close of the train,
The platform is almost empty, but the train is full
The man apologizes as he bumps into another person
It has been raining, the man is wet
He runs his hand along his bald scalp, wiping away water.

In his rush to get on the last train that late evening
He has dropped his phone on the platform
Somebody picks it up, opening up the phone screen
There is no password or no combination lock
This person starts to look at the life of this phone-user.

On the train the man composed leans back on the wall
As the train moves down the line towards the next station
He pats down the pockets reaching for his phone
"Shit" he mumbles underneath his breath
He realises he has dropped his phone.

This person on the platform sits down on a bench
Looking through another person's life
Suddenly on screen an icon flashes
And a text message appears on the screen
And this person reads at first with fascination....

The train reaches the next stop and the man gets off
Onto the platform
Behind him the automated voice exclaims
"Stand Clear the doors are Closing"
As the doors shut behind him
And the train moves off and away.

This unknown person reads the long text
Feeling sorry for the owner of this phone
As this person reads the message yet again
A feeling of shame overwhelms.

The man waits until the next train appears
So that he can return back to that station
Where he believes he has dropped the phone
He knows he will be late to meet his partner
And in his pocket of his jacket, he has a ring
He needs to see her....
And finally, that train appears and the doors open
He boards the train
"Please stand clear, the doors are closing".

This person stands from the bench,
the phone in their hand
Closing the cover of the mobile phone
The person places it on the bench
As a train approaches on the platform
From another direction
The train comes to a standstill and the doors open....

The man alights and looks up and down the platform
Seeing a woman standing at a bench,
The man sees a small object on it
Walking towards the figure
He is grateful for as he walks nearer
He recognises his phone
"Thank you".

She looks up at the voice and the man
"Is this your phone?"
The man nods "Yes",
The woman looks at the man with a deep sincerity
"Don't read the text message"
The man is taken aback, his next words stumbling
"Why not?"
With precise words the woman says.
"It will destroy you".

The man perplexed and worried opens the cover
And the screen lights up to his phone
"I'm sorry" she says
And he reads the next message
A pause, a catching of the breath
And through shaking hands the phone falls
Onto the screen side and cracks appear
His legs weak he sits unsteadily on the bench.

"I'm so sorry", this stranger says to him
She sits next to him on that deserted platform's bench
There are no more trains tonight
The man places his head in his hands
"I was going to propose to her"
One hand slides into his pocket to take the small ring holder
Opening it up, a sparkling ring
"Not now, not ever".

On that platform, two souls meet
Through random chance going on with their own lives
A random chance meeting
And through a text message, an ending unveils
She puts her arm around him, consoling him
Wordlessly she comforts him.

Around them the train indicator screens turn off
And the platform lights dim
Soon enough they will continue on with their lives
Going separate ways
But that chance meeting will one day be a long lost
Memory. A chance encounter
And that text message is deleted...
Only the sender will remember it etched in her mind.

Our actions and our thoughts are like.
Pebbles in the currents of the space surrounding us.