A New Beginning

It was April 30th, a quarter past six in the evening. Axel was about to head out for an appointment with his trusted hair guy. It was definitely time to tame those wild locks.

Plus, he liked getting a proper fresh cut before jumping into an adventure. And tomorrow, his big trip began. After everything that had happened, he’d found the perfect reason to pop that bubble and live loud. Like, really loud.

He slipped on his shoes and went to the bathroom before leaving. He watched, weirdly focused, as the stream landed right in the middle of the bowl. The whole thing amazed him, peeing into porcelain and knowing it was all handled. The waste would whoosh down a neat, organised maze of pipes, meet up with everyone else’s pee and little poops, get treated, then end up in a river or the ocean and slide back into nature’s cycle.

Zipping up, he pictured what life would be like if the hundreds of thousands of people in that city just peed wherever. Total chaos, obviously. And yeah, he felt genuinely grateful for how far humans had come on that front.

He glanced in the mirror before leaving. The guy staring back looked calm, even happy. But Axel could see something else, too. Behind that reflection there was something chewing him up inside. A kind of inner fire. A hunger to live. A thirst for adventure.

He left the apartment and walked with purpose. He had 15 minutes to reach the salon, and he wasn’t the kind of person who didn’t care about being late. He wanted to be on time, keep the good habits.

The sky was pretty clear, and the few clouds up there were just decorating it, softly. White brushstrokes on blue. Honestly, it looked really nice.

He thought about how impressive everything is when you actually look, and he remembered that physics class where they explained what clouds really are and why they look white.

Anyway, the point is he got to the salon. The wall facing the street was all glass, so you could see right inside. There were Bruno and Clara, him sweeping up the hair from the last client, her lining up the tools.

It was a simple place. Small, humble. But full of life. Bright as anything thanks to the daylight pouring in. Wooden walls, and lovely plants hanging here and there.

He walked in and they both turned to him. Bruno greeted him with a cheerful voice.

“Axel! There you are. I was waiting for you.”

“And here I am,” Axel replied, just as upbeat. “Hey, Clara!” he added, looking over at her.

“Sit down and let’s get to it.”

Axel sat in the comfy black chair.

He fixed his eyes on the mirror while Bruno got his tools ready and got to work.

Meanwhile, a few kilometres away, right in the city centre, a spotless white shoe stepped out of the door of a luxury hotel. And right after it, an elegant woman.

She walked perfectly upright, a handbag hanging from her arm, the kind of leather that probably used to belong to some wild animal. It looked an awful lot like crocodile skin. Yeah, that was it.

A taxi was waiting for her. Next to it, a smiling man gestured for her to get in.

“Good morning, miss,” he said as he opened the door.

“I’m in a hurry,” she answered, climbing in without looking at him.

The gentleman tensed up and did everything he could to please her.

“Of course. We’re off right away.”

He closed the door carefully, trying not to make a sound. Then he hurried around to the driver’s seat and started the engine. The radio turned on by itself, and some kind of Cuban jazz kicked in. Exactly what he needed to get through those endless hours behind the wheel.

“Where to?”

“Take me to a hair salon.”

“Any particular one, or do you want me to pick?”

“If it was a particular one, I’d have told you, don’t you think?” she snapped. “I’m here for business. I don’t know the area.”

“All right then, I’ll take you to the best place in town,” the driver said, thinking of his friends Bruno and Clara.

“You’d better. If not, I’ll make sure you lose your taxi licence. And turn off that awful music.”

So the two of them rode in silence to the place where Bruno was cutting Axel’s hair, while Clara sorted the dye bottles on the shelf by colour. For some reason they always ended up completely jumbled, some even shoved in upside down.

The salon door flew open. First came a super elegant white shoe, then a woman even more elegant, with a crocodile-skin handbag on her arm and a look of pure superiority on her face.

Clara stopped what she was doing and walked over with a friendly smile. She was always ready to welcome anyone who stepped into her salon.

“Hey gorgeous! That outfit is stunning,” she said brightly as the elegant woman sat in the chair.

The woman barely replied, just a little mumble, and pulled her phone out of her bag without even looking at Clara.

“I need you to do this style, if you can,” she said, holding up a photo on her screen.

Clara didn’t let the attitude get to her. She answered in the same warm tone.

“Of course. And honestly, I’m going to love working with your gorgeous hair.”

The elegant woman snorted with disdain and, in a cold voice, replied, “Don’t you dare ruin it, or I’ll make sure this dump gets shut down.”

The atmosphere in the salon tightened… and Clara got on with her work in silence.

Axel watched it all in the mirror, thinking about how grotesque that woman’s attitude was, and wondering what makes someone live without joy. What story was hiding behind that polished, icy look?

Right then, a tiny movement on the dye shelf caught his eye. A dark violet bottle wobbled slightly, like someone had nudged it. Axel squinted to see better, but when everything looked still again, he decided to let it go. Probably just vibrations. There was loads of traffic out on the road.

In the silence that still ruled the place, Bruno tried to break the tension.

“You know, ma’am, a good haircut can make the world look different,” he said, hopeful.

The woman shot him a glacial look through the mirror. After a few brutal seconds, she spoke.

“Focus on your job. Cut that kid’s hair, you’re going to slice his ear off with all that chatter,” and she went back to her phone, where a video played of another woman just like her presenting what looked like a diamond necklace.

Clara, meanwhile, was putting the finishing touches on the woman’s hair, twisting inside with the urge to fire back something wild. The air felt heavy, each second stretching like chewing gum. Her hands stayed steady, but her mind locked in on not making a single mistake. As tempting as a little mischief might’ve been, she wasn’t going to waste her energy on this person. The sooner she left, the better.

Finally, Clara stepped back and announced she was done. The woman checked her reflection, and for a moment her face went blank, judging the work. Then she looked down at her white shoes, like they might give her something to say. She made a few weird movements with her mouth, and suddenly she looked back up at the mirror, this time with a huge smile spread across her face.

“I love it!” she exclaimed, surprised by her own reaction. Her voice, warmer now, filled the room with joy.

“You do?” Clara asked, relieved and confused at the same time.

“Actually, I feel so much better now. Thank you for such excellent work,” and as she spoke, she opened that elegant crocodile-skin handbag and pulled out five large gold coins, handing them to Clara with a smile. “Keep the change, please. You deserve this and so much more.”

Then she closed the bag and left the salon, humming a cheerful tune.

Bruno, Clara, and Axel exchanged stunned looks. Out of the corner of his eye, Axel saw the purple bottle on the dye shelf wobble again.

This time he got it. Right next to the dye bottles, a little mouse was scampering along the shelf.

He followed it with his eyes, but he kept the secret to himself.

Clara happily went to put away the coins… and Bruno didn’t take much longer to finish what he’d started. Axel’s hair now looked fresh and full of movement, exactly how he liked it.

“Thanks, mate. Honestly, it’s perfect,” Axel said as he stood up.

“Any time, my friend,” the hairdresser replied, pleased with his work. “And tomorrow’s your big trip. I’m glad I’m the one sending you off looking this handsome.”

Clara joined in.

“Are you sure you want to go? I mean, you’ve got it good here. You’re not missing anything.”

Axel looked at her. His face said it loud and clear, there was no turning back now. Even if only he really knew why he was leaving. And funny enough, it had all started with an insignificant slice of pizza.

“Nah… it’s not bad here, but I can’t keep wasting my life like this.”

“Leave it, Clara,” Bruno said. “I know he’ll be back before you know it,” he added, winking at her.

“Alright, listen, what do you say that once you’re done here, you come round to mine for dinner?” Axel said as he paid Bruno for the cut. “We’ll say goodbye properly. We can eat together and then play some board games.”

“Yes!” Clara shouted. “We’re in.”

Axel nodded, excited. “Perfect. Why don’t you bring something to drink, and I’ll go grab what we need to make a proper paella?”

“Brilliant, man. We’ll be there!”

With the plan set, the friends said goodbye. Axel stepped out of the salon happy with his fresh cut. The day was still bright and cool, perfect for a stroll through the local market. As he walked, he thought about the ingredients he was going to buy.