A Cozy Musical Night

The cat with brown and black spots had finished his little tin of tuna and was now licking his paws with pure elegance.

Eva watched him closely, lost in her own head. Tears of sadness kept spilling from her eyes and sliding down her cheeks. She’d been sitting there for more than three hours, stuck on the same question, should she go, or not go, to the dinner the guy from the market had invited her to so sweetly.

But what had she done? Why did life have to be so hard?

Her mind was a whirlwind, and thinking through every possible answer had her frozen in place.

By now that little group of friends would be playing board games after a seriously delicious paella.

The cat padded over, meowing in that soft, affectionate way. Belly full meant it was cuddle o’clock, right in his best friend’s lap.

She picked him up gently. They stayed still, calm, tucked inside that heavy silence.

Only it wasn’t really silence, because the storm in her head kept throwing questions at her.

Saying yes to that invitation was so much more than going out to eat. It meant opening a tiny crack in the wall she’d built around herself, the wall that kept her safe from the life she’d run from.

It was in her hands, let herself be carried along, or stay hidden inside her own bubble.

She watched the clock keep ticking, not caring about any of her questions, and that little indifference pushed her to choose.

Come on, Fay.

“Better late than never,” she told herself.

They left the house and walked in the direction Axel had given her.

Meanwhile Axel had been walking for a while already, following the tunnel of light his flashlight carved out in front of him.

On one hand he felt peaceful, even happy. He was tasting that adventure feeling he’d been craving. Every step forward erased a bit more of the weight of boredom, of the easy, predictable life he’d built for himself these last few years.

But on the other hand, every step forward was a step into the unknown. In a way, he was tearing something down.

He stopped.

The flashlight beam landed on the twisted branch of an old tree.

What was he doing out here? Had he really left everything behind to follow a dark path and an invisible horizon?

An uncomfortable feeling took over. A shiver.

Was this really freedom? What if he was running from himself, not from the city?

He sat on the ground. Turned the flashlight off.

The darkness wrapped around him completely, like a rough blanket whispering doubts into his ear.

The forest sounds that had felt nice a moment ago were now just that, noises.

A branch snapping. A bird’s wings far away. Little pieces of a puzzle with no color.

He wanted to turn back. To undo his steps and go back to the smell of paella. Back to the light of his apartment and his room, the walls covered in photos.

What did he really want?

The question got stuck in his throat. No shape. No answer.

It annoyed him not to know. He felt like a boat adrift. No sails.

Then the first drop landed on his forehead. Cold. Final. Then another. And another.

And that’s how the rain started dancing on the leaves. Life handing him a big fat scoop of irony.

He stood up with a sigh. Dug through his backpack. His fingers found the cold, plasticky fabric of his raincoat.

He pulled it out fast and wrapped himself up completely. From shoulders to knees, backpack included.

“That’s it… what adventure, what adventure, forget this,” he muttered, grumpy as anything.

He tightened the hood and started retracing his steps.

He didn’t even bother turning on the flashlight. Far in the distance he could still see the faint little lights of his city.

He hadn’t taken even eight steps when a wild scream stopped him dead.

….

A cheerful, playful tune had jumped right into the scene.

Axel froze, eyes wide in the dark.

What was that?

Oh. Right. His portable speaker. The one that always kept him company when he cooked.

It was blasting musical joy from inside the backpack.

That was weird… he hadn’t turned it on.

Well, maybe he’d hit it by accident when he grabbed the raincoat… except that had been almost a minute ago.

The drops were falling harder and harder.

But his mouth curved into a smile. The music, so out of place in that rain-and-trees scene, was ridiculous. And that ridiculousness calmed him down.

It pulled him out of his thought-loop. A surprise shot of energy.

Then he remembered why he was doing this, he was trying to live new things, unpredictable things.

So he turned around again. He switched his flashlight back on, and the beam looked sharper now. Drops slid down the plasticky fabric of his raincoat like tiny little caresses trying to tell him something. He wasn’t alone.

He didn’t know where he was going. The darkness around him was still a question mark. But now the music, with its innocent, cheeky rhythm, was walking with him.

And right then, Axel felt that even though he was standing under the rain in the middle of nowhere, this was the adventure feeling he’d always been hungry for. He kept walking with a steady step, listening to that mischievous mix of instruments and voices push back against the night, against the rain, and against every negative thought.