~ O Re Kanchi| An Akshnav Saga

Chapter 15~ The Fire and The Flower

Embers smoke with wisps of grey
the flame reduced to coal,
The flower folds its petals in
to protect its hurting soul.

The spark that gives the fire life
has blown to a distant shore,
The flower sits alone,
forgotten the fire's warmth soothes no more.

The flower weeps in restless sleep
dreams of the flame she misses much,
While the flame recalls with a heavy heart
the flower that loved its touch.

Then on a breeze of cool air
the spark blows back to home,
To warm the air the flower needs
to wake its sleeping bloom.

And as the flower blossoms
when its face turns toward the rain
The embers glow and strengthen
and the fire burns bright again.

• Susan Oxford •

Abhinav opened his eyes and tried to gauge his surroundings. It was a highly decorative room, probably looking like one of those honeymoon sweets he had seen on television. He tried to register the situation, but his messy head didn't allow him.

A volcano of heat was trapping his senses. He felt an immediate need to get rid of this sensation. He needed something, something to hold on to something to do...someone...AKSHARA.. with a jerk he titled his head in a failed attempt to get rid of his sudden wild thought when his eyes fell on the person he direly wished yet not wished to be around him in this uncontrollable situation.

It was Akshara, lying beside him in a state similar to his. He jerked his head again, considering it his hallucination, but the person seemed like Akshara. Her eyes were shut, but she was moving her legs slightly as if she were fighting for existence.

"Hum dono k sath khuch tu garbarh ho rhi hai."

Even in that situation, Akshara was trying to escape from herself, roaming her hands over her own body, possibly attempting to shed her dress.

He tried to touch her forehead to check her condition, but something drastically changed between the situations.

"My way of looking towards her... how sinful... but... why?"

Akshara was wearing the same dress, but the way she was looking before is totally different than the way she is looking now. The pure innocent look changed into sexy seductive all of a sudden.

Abhinav shifted his eyes from her and tried to look around. He wondered where they were and why his body was urging him towards something sinful, something that he hadn't done before, but the immense need to do it increased with each passing minute.

He stood up, controlling his thoughts, and went slowly towards the door. He rotated the handle but couldn't open it.

"What is happening? Why its not working?"

Abhinav's mind was heavy, yet he still tried to register his memory.

He and Akshara were moving towards the main door when the waiter who was serving them stopped them and apologetically informed them about some sudden road blockage on the main entrance and led them towards the other entrance.

They walked and passed by the rooms on the ground floor on their way towards the other entrance; he remembered his mind getting a bit drowsy with each passing step, and Akshara was also trying to walk with heavy steps.