Odyssey of Faith

She: "I am so tired of everything....aren't you?"
He considered. "No I don’t think I am...", he replied.
His words held a queer...realistic conviction....
The conviction lay not so much in his words....as in his voice....For some unfathomable reason his voice had always soothed her...Always...

The train was rushing ahead at an incredible speed. She suddenly shivered...She looked around but there were only the two of them…All of a sudden the realization hit her that they were the only people in the train…
“This is not real. This is not real. It can’t happen. I am dreaming. I will wake up and find this is all a dream,” she thought frantically.

Then she looked up and found him looking at her...He was not handsome...a haunting face...a face that you didn’t forget…good looking yes.. in an odd sort of way...But yet...There was something about his face...Just looking at him made her feel...so...so safe...protected...as if he would always take care of her...always be there for her...His face was dependable...unyielding...loyal...Strange that he should be the only boy for her...

She looked out of the train window…There wasn't much to see...It was almost dark. She looked back at him and suddenly smiled. She felt....content....at peace with herself...She wished this journey would go on forever…and ever...and ever.....She didn't need anything or anybody else...She felt...so...so complete and total...Strange...that he always had this effect on her...

He was still staring at her. “Would you like to play a game?” he asked quietly..
“Oh yes!” she exclaimed as animatedly as a child.
He smiled. “This game has a condition…a condition which you can’t break...would you still like to play?” he asked. His voice was quiet and controlled…free of all emotions…but then he was always like that…you couldn’t know…you could only feel…and she had always felt correctly...had never been wrong about him.

Now instinctively she could feel that her reply meant a lot to him. She again looked out of the train window…Slowly she turned her face towards him..
“Yes I would like to play,” she said.
“Won’t you ask what the condition is?” he enquired.
“Hmmm…not really….it doesn’t really matter…I would go ahead with any game so long as you are there to play it with me,” she replied.
“Are you sure? You can’t leave the game midway…so think carefully,” he said.
“I am sure,” and those three words imported her complete strength and conviction….in him.
“Alright, the game is about riddles. I give you a riddle and you get to solve it. Then you give me a riddle and I get to solve it,” he said.
“And the condition?” she asked.
He was quiet and looked at her with laughing eyes. Strange the way his eyes could laugh…yet his mouth remained firm…

“The condition is that the one who loses has to walk all the way till the end with the other person…” he murmured.
“The end of this journey you mean...” she said nonchalantly.
Of course, as usual she knew exactly what he meant. As usual he was testing her…challenging her to accept the bait…yet…
“Not really…” he said.

She looked at him and their eyes met. There was no further need for any games. The deception was at an end. They understood each other completely, perfectly...they completed each other…complemented each other…they always had… and they always would…

They both turned back their heads and started laughing.