At that moment, I felt the breath get sucked out of me. Everything stood still for a few seconds. Everything turned into a muffle as I saw hundreds of people pushing and pulling to get through. I felt the train begin to pull away, as my mom tugged on my hand to no avail. Seconds were left, and I closed my eyes as I saw the end of the platform.

It was 5 o'clock in the afternoon, as the orange sun began to sink behind the gray clouds of pollution in Delhi, India. I looked down and kicked a stone at a shrub in boredom. My mom grimaced at me,
       “ We’re going soon, okay? Just wait a few more minutes.”

       “Mom language for a few more hours” I said in my head.

After several pictures, and my mom talking to aunts. Finally I heard the long awaited message,
      “It’s time to go”

           As we exited the building, the smells came back. You don’t want to know how some parts of India smell like. The sounds of speeding lorries honking at small hatchbacks resonated through the weave of concrete buildings.An old oak tree hung over the road, and dead bark was crumbling. It looked just like I felt at the moment My brother walked beside me and tried to get me engaged in some conversation. My brother, Pranav, was 12 years old(5 years older than me at the time) and loved planes more than anything.

    “When we get home, let’s play Google Earth Flight Simulator. I’ve already planned a route. We can fly from Kathmandu to Beijing. The F-16 will get there in no time.” he told me

    “B-but what if we crash?” I stuttered

    “We won’t. Trust me” he assured me.

I had just realized how hot it was. Even though it was in the evening, it was well over a hundred degrees with over 90% humidity. I began to drag my feet, and think about all that I could have been doing at this time. I could have been playing Google Earth Flight Simulator with my brother. I could have been having some nice food at my house. But no, here I was in India, burning to a crisp, and my feet screaming at me to sit down. I know I’m sounding whiney, but it’s not a good feeling to think about all the other things you could have been doing.

The Delhi Metro is always jampacked. Late businessman diving through the doors, elbowing those unfortunate enough to get in their way; people yelling at each other for pushing, and the bad maintenance means the station isn’t exactly what you’d call posh. The hanging ceiling lights are shattered and the floor is covered in gunk. As we approached the dark stairwell that led down to the metro, the sun took its final plunge under the horizon, leaving us in lukewarm light from light pollution. When we made our way down the long staircase, there was already a train there. The Then, all of a sudden a felt a tug on my hand, as my brother and my mom ran for the train. For a split second, I hesitated. That hesitation would put my life at risk. The train began to beep as I sprinted for the train. I lunged for the doors as they closed. Suddenly a felt a thud, I looked around and realized I was stuck in between the doors. I expected the train to remain stationary, but with a lurch, began to creak forward. I eyed the tunnel ahead in terror. If I hit the tunnel, it would be game over. I struggled and writhed to get out. I saw my mom’s terrified expression as she tried to pull me in.

    “Help!” I screamed

As the subway accelerated, I closed my eyes tight and braced for impact. I felt a thud on my back.I looked around, and at first had no idea where I was. Everything was a blur, but my vision cleared out, and I saw the roof of the metro. My brother gave me a hug, as he was glad I was alive. I didn’t really consider how lucky I was to escape unscathed, until I wrote this narrative. Many others who had gotten in similar situations had not been as lucky as me.  Well, so much for summer vacation.