When Life is Forced to a Halt

            Most of us who commute everyday spend a good amount of time on the subway, and we will probably agree that it is not a pleasant place to be. It becomes an endless cycle. Life can often feel like a wave of déjà vu, and your days turn dull and grey. You can already feel that tomorrow is the same as today and yesterday. However, that cycle is broken when something out of the ordinary happens whether it is something great or awful. One way or another, this event burns a hole in your memory and changes the way you go about your future commutes. 

This is exactly what happened to me on a random commute to my university campus. It was the commute where I experienced the feeling of my heart sinking to my stomach in its strongest sense.

keep in mind that some subway lines in Egypt unfortunately tend to be dangerous if you're not being careful.

It was a mundane morning on the subway. I was sitting in my usual seat absorbed in my new book. Unbearable sounds were surrounding me from every direction. The buzzing noise of the metro, the unclear gossiping between friends, the one-sided phone conversations, and the irritating yelling of the sellers blended together with my favorite reading playlist playing in my earphones creating a familiar atmosphere. The metro stopped in one station that I fail to remember the name of. After a few seconds, I was met with abrupt silence that forced me to take one earphone out to adjust to this unusual stillness. The next second, I am attacked by piercing screams and cries, and it felt as if my ears were about to bleed. It is an understatement to say that I was in shock; I was basically frozen in my seat with my right hand still holding the earphone. I forcibly removed my eyes from the book to explore the mayhem surrounding me. However, my vision was blocked by a mass of people panicking as if they just witnessed a bloody murder. After a few moments, I was able to make some sense of the rising screams and realize the disaster that took place right outside the subway door. So what happened was that a kid slipped from her mother's hand and fell underneath the subway car, and people were rushing to retrieve the girl before it is too late. Once it hit me that this is actually happening, all that I managed to do was squeeze my eyes shut,  clutch my chest, and feel my heart sinking to my feet.

"It's over." was the only thought in my head when I heard the metro beeping signaling that it was about to start moving again. 

Next thing that I remember was the whole subway car being filled with cries of relief. The kid was given back to her mother safe and sound. It was only then that I was able to calm my pounding heart and gain the ability to breathe again. From that day onward, every time I ride the subway, I would get haunted by this disturbing memory.

Don't forget to stay more alert to your surroundings when you need to take the metro.

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