As the sun rose up, a new day began and just like always Axel had to wake up, have breakfast and get ready for the day. It seemed to be a lovely day, sun shining bright, no cloud on sight and subtle breeze that, hopefully, refreshed everyone who wanted to go out and have fun.
The month of July, a month known for its hot weather and almost no rain but most known to be the middle of summer vacation.
Axel had in mind all the things he was going to do through out the day and that included things like playing games, training his body and some homework to keep his mind active for his return to college.
Axel, with his curly hazel hair and a height of one meter and eighty-one centimeters, amber eyes that looked like jems and an attitude that many would call childish but mature when needed.
Determined to start the day, Axel decided to make breakfast for both him and his mom, Rose, who had to go to work. The thing about him is that he always wakes up earlier than her, no matter what day or month it is and so he always makes breakfast for both of them.
He started by toasting some bread, he had always liked it just a bit toasted, enough to be crunchy but to not loose the flexibility of the bread. Then he proceeded to fry some eggs and added a bit of salt. To drink with the toast and the fried egg he made some coffe, decaf to be precise, for the both of them.
This is how his mornings always go, a different breakfast, sometimes a bit more slothful or maybe his mother making breakfast but, basically, the same.
As he finished eating and started taking the dish and glass he had used to the kitchen sink, his mother, eating a part of the fried egg, asked him with a frown in her face.
Rose: "Can you please go outside today? You've been having a streak of not going out lately."
Lately Axel had been staying home more than usual and his mother, who knows him better than anyone, knew something was going.
Axel: "I'll try, I'll try, I have been going out ok? I don't know why you are saying that and why so insistent, it's been so darn hot!"
Rose: "Well then put on something refreshing, grab a bottle of water that's so cold it hurts to hold in your hands and get your ass out, maybe go to the pool with Jorge or your sister."
Axel had a sister, Moly, who was six years younger than him, darker hair than Axel but as curly as him and with the same jem like eyes his brother had and one head shorter than him. One would say she is an energetic girl, always positive and full of ideas in her head.
Said to be really creative, she had always created different types of games growing up, games like tag but with a rule that would allow the person chasing to throw something it was wearing to tag the other players and other games who all people know but with new rules.
Her and Axel had a great relationship and thanks to that they had grown up to understand eachother really well, like how the other one thinks or how they felt, always being there for eachother when needed, a brotherly bond.
Jorge, in the other hand, was a close friend of him, black and wavy hair, deep brown eyes and a bit shorter than Axel. A trustworthy guy, two years older than Axel but as childish, friendly, horrible at telling jokes and amazing at rating food.
Axel: "I don't mind going outside, eating with Moly, playing with Jorge or doing other things with Alan or Malcom, but, my dear mother, not even the winds of the poles are going to make the day, that has just started, be colder. It's only 8:30 a.m. and I'm already sweating bullets."
He proceeded to keep rambling on about many things that wouldn't allow him to go outside and do things, his mother just shoved off those arguments and repeated what she had said, aching him to try and think what to do about it.
With the conversation going nowhere, he left the dish and glass, that he had been holding on, inside the sink, cleaned them and left them to dry, then he went to his room and made his bed. He started looking for some clothes in the closet so he could shower, hoping to refresh himself a bit.
As he was entering the bathroom, his mother said goodbye and so did he. He proceeded to shower and as he did he heard someone walking outside the bathroom.
???: "Axel! Are you coming out yet? Because I need to come inside!"
It was Moly, who had just woken up and shouted loudly for Axel to hear, he could notice that her throat was in need for some water as it was a bit raspy.
Axel: "Well I just got in so you'll need to wait a bit."
Moly: "Those a bit of yours are, in fact, not a bit. I've never seen that expresion come true from the likes of you."
Axel: "Yeah, yeah. Just wait, that's all I can offer."
Hearing her back away from the door and walk to the living room, Axel showered a bit faster so his dear sister could enter as fast as possible and do whatever she had and wanted to do.
***
Stepping outside the door and into the street Axel and Moly looked around to see what they could, the day had become hotter and there weren't clouds for the both of them to take cover in the shadow.
Moly: "Ok, choose directions, that means..."
Axel: "Coin flip?"
Axel finished his sister's line and she nodded to his brother's question and so he looked for a coin in his wallet. Tails was for left and heads for right, this was how they had always done it, Axel had come up with it when Moly was a bit younger and never knew which direction to choose.
Axel: "Aaaand it's heads! Right we go!"
Moly: "Amazing."
Walking down the street as the cars and, sometimes, motorbikes passed by, Axel and Moly were looking around and talking a bunch, mostly talking about how they had always lived in the same street and in the same city. They lived in a city with a population of roughly 48.000 people, not a big city, a small one and more than a city it was a big town, one that had hospitals, a train system that connected with other towns and cities, buses to move around and more.
They had grown up in it and they loved it, almost always peaceful, cool festivities through out the year, malls to shop and goof around, lots of parks to walk and play in and an arcade. The last one being where they almost always went nowadays, all thanks to the heat and boredom.
Arriving at the mall, at around 2:30 p.m., both Axel and Moly wanted to get something to eat but they had different yearnings. While Moly wanted to eat at a buffet, Axel wanted to eat a kebab, so they were at a standstill and there was only one way to solve this.
Axel and Moly: "Rock, paper, scissors!"
The both of them said it at the same time and as soon as they finished the sentence they showed what they had chosen.
***
Sitting in a table was Axel, who was waiting for Moly to get what she wanted to eat, looking around at the people who were talking and having fun while eating. They had ended up in the buffet making Moly the winner and Axel the looser and even if he really wanted to eat kebab he had lost and he would respect that.
The buffet was big, it had 4 halls filled with different types of foods, a big grill where people could give a dish with uncooked meat to the grill master and for the little kids, a zone where they wouldn't harm anyone when playing.
The table Axel was waiting on was beside one of the halls, he could see some fried chicken and what seemed to be a really good looking meat, he wanted to get up and start placing food on his dish but he needed Moly to come back so she could guard the table and their belongings, as he thought of this he looked at the hall, where a girl could be seen carrying a plate full of rice, meat and french fries.
Moly: "Alright bro! I'm done with the first one so you go get yours and be sure to get lots of yummy things to eat!"
Axel: "Noted. I'll get myself some food."
And so he did, he stood up from his chair as Moly sat down and went straight for the food.
After some time looking around and making a dish that would count for three, he decided it was good enough, went to the table and placed his dish. He then took his cup to fill it up with some soda, went back and sat down in his place as Moly was in the middle of eating.
Moly: "Sooooo, all that for you?"
Moly was looking at her brother's plate, full of different things, rice, noodles, french fries, chicken tenders, shrimp. It was hard to look at and she wasn't about to question what kind of diet her brother had.
As they ate they talked about what to do during the summer as well as how the year had been so far and they noticed that all they had done was study and laze around the house, mostly Moly, while Axel did his rutine with some changes here and there and lately not doing it at all thanks to the heat. They also talked about their father, who was a truck driver and spent a lot of time outside home, both house, town and sometimes country. His name was Tony and he was the eldest person of their house being 46 and their mother 44.
They ate, they drank, they talked and they laughed. That was how they spent the rest of the time inside the buffet while people came and went. For the two of them the world had become so small, only the two of them lived in it, just them two, a table, food and their chairs.
***
Opening the front door, as they entered, Axel and Moly layed eyes upon a strange situation and their faces had changed. Eyes widening, mouth dropping and their heart rates increasing, Axel closed the door and looked at Moly who started running towards the center of their astonishment.
Moly: "Dad! When did you get here and WHY are you here?!"
Opening his arms to embrace Moly Tony smiled and then he answered her question.
Tony: "Well you see, I've finished the work I was given earlier than expected and they told me I could go home sooner, now, where did you two come from?"
Axel: "We were at the mall, eating at a buffet. It was really good and now I'm broke."
Saying in an overjoyed tone, Axel had answered his father who got close to hug him too. Tony gave a loud laugh at that last remark his son had made, making Moly laugh too in a similar manner.
Tony: "Leaving that aside, I got some interesting job the company has given to me, it seems to be some cool cargo from what I've been told so far."
Tony spoke with excitement as he searched for something in his phone and after a bit he found what he wanted and showed it to his kids. Both Axel and Moly looked at the phone's screen, in disbelief and then they looked at their father, smiling from ear to ear.