Chug-chug, puff-puff.
It’s continuously echoed for 5 hours. In the moonlight the train, exactly the trans-Siberian Express heading for my city, Novosibirsk, chugs rhythmically along the snow-covered railroad. One by one other passengers fall asleep to the rhythm made by the train. A hushed silence has reigned over our train car. Only I, who quaffed a big cup of coffee a few hours ago, and my friend, who is so sensitive to the noise of train, lie awake in each berth. “Why are we lying in this hard mattress on the train instead of a comfortable seat on an airplane? It’s pathetic”
“Come on, because we were struggling students who couldn’t afford round-trip ticket to St.Petesburg”
“How much longer till we arr….”
“Hey, I told you 55 hours are left, just 10 minutes ago. Why don’t you stop asking me about the time every minute and go to sleep, please?”
Hmm, being stuck in the train, where dry air with dust nibbles off my skin moisture, another 55 hours? Actually it’s not a big deal. Because when traveling from Novosibirsk to St.Petesburg 2 weeks ago, I was being cooped up in another train car for fully 64 hours. 55 hours? It’s a piece of cake. Plus, all passengers in this train car seem to be gentle and normal people unlike some weird passengers I encountered in another train car two weeks ago. Well, suddenly I’ve just remembered the two weirdest passengers.