Once lived a very, charismatic individual. His instincts and the steps he used to take towards making the world a better place was known throughout the cities. His aura radiated confidence, and he was said to be a ‘clever’ man. A master of his own, he travelled the world. But was he alone? Yes. His independence was too strong to be meddled with, and oh how he despised others company. Some called him a ‘gospel of the almighty’ while some associated him to introversion. Some stated he had social anxiety. But only some managed to learn his true identity. But it was just a glimpse of him. And some called it a ‘hunch’. But he, that man, was a powerful counselor. His name was Brainde.

On Brainde’s way to the country of ‘Nerveria’, he stumbled across a beautiful maiden. She had dark, bronze hair which matched her velvet eyes. And the colors kept changing, from bronze to blond, then blond to black and then bronze again. Her eyes were a dilute mixture of all the possible textures, necessary to form an everlasting affection. Brainde bowed, kissing her hand. At this moment of time, he wished to get to know her. She was gentle, brittle yet it felt that a tiny wall was stopping him from reaching her. (The war of Thoracic and Cranial, I suppose?) Her name came out to be Heartes.

Brainde offered Heartes to join him on his hunt. The maiden gasped, “Hunt? Are we going to hurt somebody?”

The man looked at her, his eyes crinkled. “No.”

The two set out on their precious journey. They reached the streets of Nerveria, finally. Brainde sighed as he looked at all the beggars, who had their empty bowls placed right in front of them. He turned to Heartes, who had a sad expression on her face. “Wait for me.” She walked to the oldest of them, opening the zipper of her purse as came out a lot of cash. She kept it in the little bowl, smiling at the half-naked. Brainde gasped, “What are you doing? It’s their scheme of getting money!” Heartes replied, “Who knows, Brainde? Maybe he needed help.”

The beggar had disappeared the next day. Brainde placed a hand over maiden’s shoulder. “I wish I knew better...” She muttered. The rest of the beggars had started to point their bowls towards the two. Hearts and Brainde left without a word.

“Brainde! I met someone.” Heartes announced. She enthusiastically jumped around, giggling. Her face was flushed. Her best friend, Brainde, was busy solving a crossword from the newspaper. He looked over, “Another drama incoming.” Before going to the park, she looked in the mirror. Heartes combed her hair again, and then again, yet never satisfied of her appearance. She was dressed in a red dress, “His favorite color is red.”

Brainde had finished cooking, as he came back from the kitchen. Heartes was seated on the floor, trying to wear the new shoes her ‘crush’ had brought for her. Brainde sighed as he bent over. He tied her shoelaces, into an attractive butterfly. Heartes flapped her foot in the air, as the day of the confession had finally come. The charismatic man gave thumbs-up to the pretty woman.

A lot of hours had passed. Brainde sat on the dining table, waiting for Heartes. The food was getting cold, he thought. But he sighed to himself, thinking she finally found the love of her life. And he smiled. A knock was heard on the door. Brainde excitedly rushed over to open. He wanted to congratulate her, after all, things were going well. Or were they? Heartes faced him. Her eyes, swollen. She was broken, he thought. He held her close to him, while reminding her of all those times when it was evident things won’t have worked out. And in the flow, Brainde muttered a few words which he just couldn’t take back. “You are worthless to them.” From then on, whenever she looked at the mirror, she always flinched. And at times, she couldn’t even manage to look at herself. The way she walked, suddenly started to display the damage that had been done to her emotionally. The insecurities started to hit her like a train.

“Where did I go wrong?”

.    .    .