The train came to a stop, though there was no station. My lady companion asked why this had happened, but I didn’t know how to answer her.
Next, squadrons of soldiers from the army encircled the train, then burst inside, wielding their guns. Many military officers who had been on the train, plus a certain number of civilians, were driven outside. I was among those placed under arrest, leaving my girlfriend distraught and afraid. We found ourselves out in the desert. The armed soldiers ordered us to remove our clothes except for our underwear. Then they moved the military detainees to one side and the civilians to another. We began to whisper to each other that we were lost and that the end had come.
The soldiers’ commander came and called out to each of us by name. A voice among us asked, “Will you kill us without trial?”
The commander answered with candor, “There’s no need here for a trial.”
The train pulled away — and I remembered the one with whom I had come.