The trip that wasn't

"Oh this damn fog!" I said and hung up. It was 4 in the morning. I had called up the Railway enquiry to know the schedule of the train I had to catch. I was told the train is running late by two hours from its scheduled time of 6 am.

I was so excited. After all, I was going to attend my best friend's wedding and our whole group was going to attend. But fates had determined something else. Cursing the fog, I slipped under my quilt once again, but could not sleep. 'This means I won’t be able to meet my friends? This means no masti?' The thoughts were making me uncomfortable. While I was thinking all this, I remembered the argument I had with my father.

He had warned me about the fog in and around Delhi and had said that the schedules of almost all the trains and flights have gone haywire. But an ignorant soul as I am, I never paid heed to what he said. My father also told me not to choose a train which leaves Delhi in morning as it'll never make it on time. But again, I refused to listen to him. And here I was, paying the price.

Veering through all this, I looked at the watch. It was 6 in the morning now. I called up the Railway enquiry again, hoping to hear some good news. But alas! I was told the train is now more than 6 hours late as yesterday's rake is yet to arrive. My friend's wedding was in the evening and I'd thought that I'll reach by afternoon. But now, all my plans were derailed! I tried to sleep again, but couldn't.

With a glimmer of hope, I picked up the phone again at 8 am. But no. The same, boring voice said the train is getting late by the hour. Frustrated and cursing the Railways, I banged the phone and chose the better option: To cancel my ticket! I turned around and saw my father smiling. We didn’t exchange any words and I left the room quietly. But the message was clear - that my father had the last laugh!