remembering a train ride (part 2)

So there I was, at the back of the last coach of the last train for the day leaving for Jogjakarta. I was seated along the aisle and seated beside me was a guy. It was a bit scary though because I noticed that there were only a few girls in the coach and the nearest to me was five rows ahead of me. Well, never mind, right? It was an adventure.

We left Jakarta about an hour (or two) hours late from the published time of departure. Only less than an hour and the city lights of Jakarta faded away little by little. And then something scary happened.

The first thing that came to my mind was -- Why didn't I read the papers lately? Is there trouble in the provinces along the way?

Yes, something scary - the lights in the train were suddenly gone! Not just switched off or just dimmed but totally gone. Like a blackout. And there were no lights outside. We were in the fields with no lights. We can't see anything. I felt my seatmate stiffen and I got more worried. But that was nothing with how I felt when suddenly, security guards in brown uniforms came in and flashed their lights. The only thing I could do was tap my seatmate and ask in a low voice, "Is this normal?"

"What do you mean, normal," he said. (I'm so glad to know that the guy seated beside me was a student at the university at Jogjakarta and speaks better English than most).

"Normal, like lights going out in the middle of the trip?"

"No, it's not normal."

Now, That statement scared me. You know what I did? Since I can't do anything, and instead of panicking (but berating myself all this time why I didn't read the papers for any sign of trouble), I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep. When I opened my eyes a few hours later, we were moving again.

Thank you, Lord! :)

That was a memorable experience, right? Also, because I was a female traveling alone, some people asked me why I'm traveling to Jogjakarta and to be on the safe side (though I know that the people were just curious and mean no harm), I told them I'm visiting a friend and that friend is picking me up at the train station. Just so happy that when we arrived, I saw the tour guide, with my name written on a paper he's holding up. I introduced myself and off I went to this one day adventure.