By morning, the train had entered the mountains.
Meera woke slowly as pale sunlight touched her face through the window.
Outside, the world had changed.
The crowded city was gone.
In its place were endless hills wrapped in white mist, tiny houses resting quietly between trees, and roads curving through valleys like unfinished thoughts.
For a few seconds, she simply stared outside silently.
It did not feel real.
The station where she got down was small and cold.
People moved lazily.
Tea stalls released warm smoke into the morning air.
Some travelers looked lost.
Some looked excited.
But Meera…
looked peaceful.
She held her backpack tightly and stepped outside the station.
Cold wind touched her cheeks instantly.
And unexpectedly, she smiled.
A real smile.
Not the polite one she wore for society.
Not the small careful smile she used to hide pain.
This one reached her eyes.
The cab ride to her stay was long and quiet.
Pine trees passed endlessly beside the roads.
Fog moved slowly across mountains.
Somewhere far away, temple bells echoed softly through the cold air.
Meera rested her head near the window and watched everything like a child seeing the world for the first time.
Because maybe she was.
When she finally reached the tiny homestay, the owner greeted her kindly.
“Traveling alone?” the woman asked casually.
For years, that question would have embarrassed Meera.
But this time…
she nodded proudly.
“Yes.”
The room was small but warm.
Wooden walls.
A window facing mountains.
A kettle near the corner table.
Two blankets folded neatly on the bed.
Meera placed her bag down slowly and stood near the window.
Clouds moved lazily over distant hills.
Nobody knew her there.
Nobody knew how many alliances rejected her.
Nobody knew about the heartbreak she still carried quietly.
Nobody knew how many nights she survived by comforting herself.
Here…
she was simply a traveler.
And somehow, that felt healing.
That evening, Meera walked alone through narrow mountain roads wearing earphones without music playing.
She wanted to hear the silence properly.
Children laughed somewhere nearby.
A dog followed her for a while.
Cold air turned her fingers numb.
And standing there between mountains and mist, Meera suddenly realized something painful and beautiful at the same time:
All her life, she had waited for someone else to make her feel chosen.
But maybe…
she could choose herself too.