The Soul Within...

Chapter 4: The Beginning

Mind is a beautiful thing. At one glance, it seems like a mere tissue with twists and turns. But it is the main part of the body.

Mind is the beautiful place in our body and the only place in our body where peace and chaos can coexist peacefully.

It only depends on the person to let peace or chaos take over his mind. This was a conflict a person has to go through many times in his life.

And this was exactly what Axel was going through now.

“Earth to Axel, Earth to Axel,” Sam waved his hand in front of Axel, making him snap out of his trance and bring him back to the present.

“Sorry, I was just thinking,”

“Thinking about what, may I ask?”

“Things,”

“And these 'things' can range from a bachelor’s party to the world ending. Mind elaborating?”

A sigh left Axel’s mouth and he took a seat in front of the fireplace, knowing that there was no way out of Sam's interrogation.

Samuels Collin (Sam) was a friend of Axel. They both were very close friends, like brothers. Sam’s parents were very rich, which was why he had a whole big house all to himself.

Axel asked his parents to live with Sam, as it would be easy living with a friend and cut the cost of rent. Axel’s parents accepted easily because they knew Sam.

Sam was a black haired boy, not too tall and not too short. He had thin facial hair sprayed over his chin, matching with his doe brown eyes.

“Do you believe in second chances?” Axel asked, his eyes fixated on the crackling fire, casting a reflection in Axel’s dark eyes.

“Well they do say that life is like a game. And there is always second chance in games,” Sam answered cheekily.

“Well then I think life is giving me a second chance too,” Axel continued, unaware of the cheekiness in Sam’s voice.

“How?” Sam asked, the hint of playfulness gone from his voice after seeing Axel in such deep thoughts.

“I met a girl Sam. And I can’t help but think about Flora every damn time I look into her eyes,”

“But how?” Sam asked.

“She loved her friend, who left her…” Axel trailed away and looked into Sam’s eyes. His eyes were full of sadness, uncertainty, confusion and hope. All these emotions, swirling inside his brown eyes.

“Did Flora also cry like this?” Axel wondered out loud.

Sam was silent. He didn’t know what to say. He knew that Axel was on the edge and any wrong word could push him.

“Well of course, she cried!” Axel’s voice rose out frustration. Sam didn’t flinch and neither was he surprised. He knew Axel acted this way when he was feeling too much at one time.

“I can’t fix that now. But I can fix it from happening again. I’ll try to fix Clara before she’s broken beyond fix. I feel like life is giving me a chance for redemption. I’ll make her understand that sometimes moving on is the best option. Sometimes holding on hurts more than letting go.” Axel rambled on, spilling all his thoughts to Sam, who was listening carefully.

“Dude,” Sam puts a hand on Axel’s knee. “Calm down. Don’t get so worked up over it.”

“How do you expect me to calm down? On one side I’m sad that I hurt a girl like Clara but on the other side I feel like it’s my chance to correct all my mistakes.” Axel ran a hand down his face in frustration.

“Stand up,” Sam said abruptly.

“What?”

“Come on, stand up.”

Axel stood up confused.

And that was how Axel and Sam ended up taking a jog down the block in chilly night.

“Remind me to never be frustrated in front of you again,” Axel shivered and put his hands in front of the fire to return the warmth to his body.

“Well it was the only thing that came to my mind to calm you down.” Sam shrugged.

“A jog in the middle of night in Winter!?” Axel shouted.

“Yes.” Sam calmly said and then yawned.

“Go to sleep. I’m tired too. Good night Sam.” Axel said and made his way up to his bedroom.

Axel opened up his mobile and messaged all his friends to get a hold on Dexter.

Taking a deep breath, he put the phone on side and went to sleep. Well, tried to.

All his night was spent thinking of a triangle of people;
Dexter
Flora
And especially Clara.

Needless to say, he didn’t get sleep that night.