As moments ticked by Raul understood the gravity of his first solo mission. It  seemed like so much fun at the start. It's still fun if he could pull it through. He was lost in thoughts while doing all his morning chores. In the shower, he stood leaning on his hands against the wall, the water pouring down on his back, calculating and recalculating all his moves for the day at the Law firm. He thought he heard the phone ring. Closing down the shower, he listened and it was indeed the phone ringing back in the room. He wrapped a towel around him and got out of the bath. It was Mr.Wilson. "I suppose, everything is in order Raul!" asked Mr.Wilson. "Yes sir. It is. I have already asked the hotel to get me a cab by 9:00 AM" "Good luck. " and he disconnected the call. Raul rushed back into the bath to dry  himself and got ready to go. He wore a blue shirt, black jeans and a gray cardigan on top of it. He looked in the mirror and chuckled. He arra...

He must be nearing the Kirov station. The world though blanketed in snow, Raul recognized the features of the land that stretched ahead of him.The train rocked him gently as he looked out through the window along the corridor next to his Cabin. He was waiting for the provodnitsa to open the cabin door for him. The winter trees stood like a song half sung, unsure of the melody to come. Only when the wind breathes warm once more, will they recall the rolling words and unfurl them green in the sun. Until then they are mute, forlorn in the wind. Far in the distance, the city stood upon the hill in the gathering gloom. Each building jutted into the darkening sky as if it had been drawn on with charcoal. Raul  got back into his cabin and pulled apart the window curtains to let the sunlight inside the cabin. The scent of lemon grass still lingered in the cabin. The winter sunlight is watery and cold, without color radiated back from either grass and leaf, without the warmth of summer,...

"What do you call that..infatuation..Yeah..that is the right word." said Raul. Every detail of that day was etched into his brain like an Etch a Sketch. Sitting in a crummy diner, Raul looked out at the street. The street drenched in gloom. The faded figure of skyscrapers outlined the distant horizon. High up above, the clouds lit up in purple and orange. The heavens had begun its foreplay for an intense rain tonight. The street was dark like the tea he was drinking. Ghostly figures moved about the street, hurrying as if haunted. "Raul, I am sorry, it ended up this way!" said Fabrice. "It's okay, I knew how its gonna end, because I was working against my intuition, all the way from day one on this." replied Raul. .. .. Few months back, Raul was on a date with Jane; a few months after Jane started working with a bank in Ryazan. It was a December with the wintry sun, shining into the brightness of the day. The sunshine and cold, the sparkle and...

The warm bronze sunlight was swallowed by the horizon. The bright sunny day engulfed in darkness. In the far distance, the silhouette of the skyline pierced through the warm glow like a jagged mountain ridge. Millions of lights caused the dense mass of skyscrapers glitter. By nightfall the familiar trees and rocks of the daytime took on new and ominous forms. It was as if by stealing their colors, the night also stole their friendly spirits and replaced them with malicious demons. Looking out from the top floor of his building, Raul was looking out of the window of his office, waiting for the computer to churn out the results. The search query on the computer was taking too much time. Back from inside his office, he heard a chime. It was his cell phone announcing a call. He walked back into the office to answer the call "Hello" said Raul. "You talk to everyone else..but not me" She said sobbing and disconnected the call. It was jane. Raul was stunned, "...