"The Mysterious Encounter on the Midnight Train"

In the quiet hours of a late evening, three friends found themselves on a train journey home after attending a colleague's wedding. The trio, consisting of Ratan, Su Shovin, and the storyteller, were known for their deep friendship but also their stark differences in opinions.

Ratan, the rationalist, was an atheist who questioned everything and approached the world with a scientific mindset. Su Shovin, on the other hand, was a deeply religious and pious man, intrigued by the mysteries of life, including astrology.

Their journeys together often led to passionate debates, with Ratan dismissing superstitions, while Su Shovin defended the realm of faith, especially in astrology. However, this particular night would take an unexpected twist, introducing an enigmatic stranger and the possibility of seeing the future through the art of drawing.

As the train sped through the night, the debate between Ratan and Su Shovin intensified, this time centered around the topics of luck, bad luck, and astrology. Ratan staunchly debunked these beliefs as hoaxes and superstitions, while Su Shovin argued that astrology had its merits.

In the midst of this spirited discussion, a stranger sitting in the same compartment caught their attention. Clad in a gray-black sheet, with a face adorned by a white beard, the man exuded an air of mystery. The age of the man was hard to determine, but he appeared to be around 60 years old.

With an air of quiet confidence, the stranger claimed he possessed a unique ability – the power to draw portraits of the future. The three friends, initially skeptical, were now intrigued by this peculiar man. They decided to test his abilities.

Su Shovin volunteered first. The man asked him to specify a future date, down to the hour and minute. Su Shovin complied, and with eyes closed, the man began to draw. In less than a minute, he opened his eyes and handed the drawing pad to Su Shovin. It depicted an elderly man, with wrinkles etched across his face and glasses perched on his nose. It was an uncanny resemblance to Su Shovin.

The friends were astounded by the accuracy of the drawing, but the question remained – could the future really be predicted in this manner? Su Shovin's family portrait and a similar resemblance to his late grandfather offered some validation.

Ratan, the rationalist, saw this as an opportunity to test the man's claims further. He requested a portrait of his own future self, specifying a date in the near future. To their amazement, the man could not produce a drawing. He explained that the absence of a drawing implied that Ratan would not live to that age, a startling revelation.

Tensions rose, and Ratan demanded to adjust the date to see a drawing. However, the man explained that he could only draw a portrait once and for one specific moment in the future. The friends found themselves in a perplexing situation, torn between skepticism and fascination.

As they continued to converse, the man suddenly seemed troubled and proclaimed that he had to disembark at the next station, indicating that he had less than 15 minutes to live. Before they could react, the man made a hasty exit, leaving the friends in shock and disbelief.

As the train roared on, their compartment plunged into darkness. In the pitch black, a scream pierced the air, and when the lights returned, the man was gone. Ratan, determined to confront the man, made a move but met an unexpected accident and vanished into thin air.

The friends sat in stunned silence, the train racing forward through the night. It was 11 o'clock, and the mysterious encounter had left them with more questions than answers. The air hung heavy with uncertainty and a sense of the supernatural, as the train carried them further into the unknown.

The enigmatic encounter on the midnight train had left them in a state of disbelief, forever pondering the boundaries of what is possible and what lies beyond the realm of human understanding.