It was a fresh and dry summer day when I went to a village called Saudighi. It normally takes almost two hours to reach if there's no traffic jam, as it was situated on a rural place outside of capital, Daniswara. There was a bus on every one and half hours for Saudighi.

My mission was to collect the data on their literacy and the rising health issues as I was involved with a NGO who would provide them enough money and issue for a hospital near the village. From the documents, I acquired the knowledge that their vegetation remained there and they hadn't the opportunity to sell it to outside of it. They were enriched in cultivation, yet for the lack of transportation, they hardly able to leave the village.

I got a bus around 9a.m. and soon it left the station to its destination. The sight was amazing to watch. To reach Saudighi, the bus needed to cross a few mines and then a small one-way bridge appears which might have been two decades old. As coal was main source around the village, there was a train line between the bridge and the village. It was still far.

The bus was full with passengers and somehow I managed to grab a seat at the end of it. My phone rang and my senior's name showed on the display.

"Hello."

"Hey, Manny, have you reached yet?"

"No, why?"

"I...-" a few noises along with cracking sounds her voice wasn't clear, "-don't... -" again a few noise then the call disconnected. I saw my signal was lost. The bars of my mobile towers went down and it was completely useless now. Then I noticed I had only thirty percent charge. Yesterday, I was busy with preparing the documents so, I might have forgotten to plug it.

I sighed as shook my head and looked around the passengers who were busy gossiping among themselves while a few of them had large luggages. The last stoppage was Saudighi and it was a relief I wasn't alone but there was something I didn't feel quite right. So, I decided to let it slip aside for now as my eyes found very beautiful sceneries of nature. In the middle of brown dessert of soil, there was only one road, and a few trees stood middle of the ground in their full bloom.

I was enjoying the cool breeze that flowed through the window and I closed my eyes for a moment until the bus came to an halt.

I looked around to see the cause and saw there was a good's train and there was a long queue of vehicles both sides of the line. A few said the train was moving for half an hour now. And it took another half an hour to fully went away. After it comes the traffic jam.

It took four hours to reach Saudighi and I felt exhausted as it was a hot day. Sweat covered most of my skin and my clothes glued to it as a second skin.

I reached at 1:30 p.m. and I had only 3 hours in my hands to finish my task. Then I'd have to hurry up as a bus would leave at 5p.m. from Saudighi to Daneswaei, and it was the last bus to go back to my city.

I collected many information and met with most of the poor villagers who were very offended with our government and some of them even refused to talk as they knew there wouldn't be any help coming for them. I didn't mind as I knew it well, they were completely shunned from capital. Development never touched their roads, houses even they weren't provided by electricity. They didn't have any doctors and their schooling system was a mess. That's why I came to gather enough information to issue it to our government.

I was engrossed in my work and found it was almost 5.p.m. and if I didn't leave now, I'd have to stay the night here which was impossible for me at that moment as an unmarried girl can't stay over a night without any guardian.

I left the last house I visited and by now I had collected enough data however, there were still twenty-thirty houses I still needed to visit. Believing I would come again after some times later, I left.

When I reach their bus stop it was 5:14p.m. and in that bus stop a man was lying. He had a dirty t-shirt and trousers which had a lot of black stain. I called out and asked the man, "Did you see the bus leaving? Is the bus gone?"

His black eyes and messy hair told me he hadn't ate and slept well for a few days. He shook his head.

"The bus left?"

He shook his head.

Shit!

I brought out my phone and dialed my senior's number however, it never reached her as there wasn't any network and the percentage of battery went down to one percent. They didn't have any modern gadgets. I cursed under my breath.

I turned around to ask the man and noticed he had a cut on his left cheek, "Do you know how to reach the capital city?"

He titled his hand pointing the road ahead.

I knew it but I needed a vehicle or any kind of transportation to reach home. And then my stomach growled. I marched to the bus stop and took a sit across the man thinking if I could contact any of my colleagues.

I took out my tiffin and tilted my head toward the man, his eyes were on my lunch box and my assumptions were correct.

I stretched out my hands and gave him most of my lunch and we ate it together in silence. His hands were dirty so I told him to wash his hands which he didn't answer but took my bottle and gulped down the remaining water in one go. His dull, pleading eyes fall on me and it seemed his hunger still wasn't subsidies so, I gave him my remaining lunch.

And he ate it.

It was almost pitiful, the village had so many food yet, there were many villagers who didn't had a single coin or job. They needed to recycle their system thus, they needed a good transporting system. I was determined to give a proper report on them.

Now I needed to reach capital but I knew there wasn't any vehicle available now. The streets were almost empty and I didn't have any connection to call for help.

At that moment, I decided to walk. It was a foolish choice but if I didn't reach home, my parents would start a chaos. I started walking taking the road.

The sun went down and stars peeked from the sky as I was still walking on that long road. At that moment, my cell phone was already out of battery and I mentally noted, next time I would definitely charge before going to any job.

A moment later, another tree passed and it felt like I wasn't moving anywhere as it had same sight coming all over again. It was shocking how I didn't notice it until now, there was a tree after each one kilometres. I didn't count how many trees I'd left behind.

It was almost dark and I still didn't reach the small bridge nor the train line. My legs felt tired and I felt out of breathe. I felt scared as in the middle of the road I was alone. I looked behind and saw the emptiness of the road as if it would devoured me any moment as and I moved forward, speeding my steps.

There was no light, not even the moon was there. It was uttar blindness and the black silhouette of distant hills seemed like giants of the dark night. It gave me a shiver and I was praying to God, somehow I reach the capital.

In the deadly silence where the only sound was my breath, I tripped and suddenly my left leg was caught into something.

My breath hitched.

I bent down and searched for my left leg. In the middle of two long iron bars my shoe soul along with my ankle was stuck. It was the train line. Relief washed over me as I had crossed half path of my destination.

I tried to pull out my leg but it would not budge. I tried to untangle my shoelaces but my whole ankle was caught into it.

I jerked my leg but it would not move then a vibration came following by a whistle. I tilted my head and saw a good train was coming and by now, my heart started to beat in my ears.

I yanked hard again but it didn't move and I felt my tears welled up in the corners of my eyes. All of hairs on my body stood straight as if I was struck with lightning. I screamed to the coming train hoping the driver might hear, however it faded into the whistle of the train. At that moment, I felt my decisions were bad. I felt I should have said sorry to my parents for not listening their advice to not to go alone. As the horn blew, the train was almost six feets away. And I tried one last time.

But, a pair of hands grabbed me from my behind. I got startled but the hands yanked with so much effort that my shoe which was caught by the lines loosened from my foot and I was whirled around while the train passed with a great speed. The horns of the train had almost deafen my ear drums but it could not stop my tears. The hands still held me and I was thankful to whoever it was. The train passed away and suddenly a lamp post lit up. The lamp was from the factory and I hadn't noticed it until now.

I felt the hands were still clutched to me so I tried to loose it until they fall on the ground like two logs of the tree. I looked at my hands and felt my clothes were wet. It was a yellow light so, the view around me was clear.

And my tears stopped as I looked behind me and saw red liquid filled the whole area along with myself. It was blood. A lot of it.

My heart didn't beat and breath halted as my gaze fall on a head that stayed on the right side of me, eyes opened gazing at me. It was the same man's whom I gave my lunch box. His body was torn into pieces and his blood had showered me.

I didn't scream as if a strange numbness wrapped me around in its embrace and my feet moved on its own.

I didn't know how long I walked with silence being my only friend. Until a bus stopped beside me and the conductor called out, "Madamji."

I looked at him and his eyes turned wide along with the few passengers' eyes.

With a staggering voice he asked, "Madamji, what-what happened?"

"Why...I thought the bus had left." I mumbled unable to grasp the situation as blood dripping from my clothes and I felt the breeze became a little cold.

"The bus could not leave as there was an issue with the brakes. It took us some time," he answered cautiously as his eyes scrutinized my bloodied figure.

I shook my head still fazed by the shock, "There was an accident. He saved me and died."

"Who died?" He asked and the passengers glanced at each other.

"A man with black eyes, I don't-I don't know him. He saved me from the passing train."

"What? Who-who was it?" A few passengers left their seats and one of them gave me a clothe from what they wore.

"A-a dirty man with messy hair. Dirty t-shirt and..." I could not comprehend what to tell, "He-he had a cut on his left cheek."

A gape form on his lips.

My tears started to flow until he said, "But Madamji..." he opened his mouth then closed again.

"What?"

"The man with a cut, Haru. He died two months ago," his lips quivering, "saving a villager."

____

After that I didn't had the courage to go there but I researched on the man, Haru. I had asked my companions to go there and searched for articles on him.

After my research, I found out: Haru was very poor and his three years old son died from hunger. He could not talk and the villagers wouldn't give him any works as they were poor themselves. They had crops and most of the vegetation either dried off or rotten.

And the villager he saved from the train line was another person like me, who would help them to grow. However, the said person never did anything and the case hadn't reach government's eyes.