2309. Light at the end of the tunnel

I was reading on the train. The carriage wasn’t packed; just a few people scattered here and there.  All of a sudden we stopped in the middle of a tunnel. The train’s lights went out. The tunnel’s lights went out. I tell you, I couldn’t see a thing. It was pitch black.

A few people called out jokes, like “Can I see all tickets please”. It was pitch dark for only a few moments. People starting using their phones for light. They cast eerie shadows but at least we could see a little. Of course there was no cell phone coverage in a tunnel.

The tunnel was quite a long one. Apparently light could not be seen at the end of the tunnel in either direction. A man came through saying it was safe to get off the train. The doors were opened and we could barely squeeze along the side of the train. That’s how tight it was. There was room for only the one train on the single track. But we managed to get to the front of the train – well, some of us did – and this guy said “We might as well start walking”. So we did.

We walked I suppose for about twenty minutes and then we saw it: light at the end of the tunnel! I have never been so happy to hear a cliché! I guess we walked for another twenty minutes and the daylight at the end of the tunnel was now quite pronounced. I reckoned we had only about quarter of an hour’s walk to go.

That was when the daylight went dark. There was another train coming.