In A Moment...

 This story is written based on Women's Web's May's muse of the month writing cue, “What does the brain matter compared with the heart” (from Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf). The prompt required a word limit of 800, since as always I had already missed the deadline, I decided to ignore it :-)

Wading into the Hawaiian Sunset (Maui, Hawaii)

“Aloha! Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Kahului airport. Local time is 4:30 PM and the temperature outside is 80F. For your safety and comfort please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the-“

Missy was no longer listening. The view outside the window had her enthralled. Out of nowhere a rainbow had begun playing hide and seek with fluffy white clouds sailing across the deep blue sky. After months and months of late evenings in office with only the walls for company, this was a magical sight for her. Lost playing peek-a-boo with the strokes that adorned the sky, she was shaken out of her revelry by a sudden jolt.

“On behalf of American Airlines and the entire crew, I’d like to thank you for joining us on this trip and we are looking forward to seeing you on board again soon. Have a nice stay!”

She was finally there! The vacation she had long awaited, to get away from her demanding job, work that kept her in the confines of her cabin for the better part of her day and evening, from Chicago, once the city of her dreams. Once. There was nobody to blame but herself, she thought angrily. She was good at her work, darn good at it. She had been in love with it. Truly, deeply, madly in love. The pay was good, it still was. She knew her colleagues turned a shade of green each time she passed by. Becoming the youngest VP in an advertising firm was no mean feat. But with her more than pea sized brains; it had been child’s play for her. Oh the attention she soaked herself in! Even now the thought of it made smugness capture her face in entirety. She had a beautiful pad downtown, a stone’s throw from ‘The Magnificent Mile’, with a mesmerizing view of Lake Michigan. Come summer, the silhouette of Navy Pier would adorn the river right in front of her bedroom window. It was a house to come to; it was her dream come true. Yes, Chicago had been the city of her dreams.

A sigh escaped Missy as she tugged her weekend bag from the overhead bin and waited for her turn to get off the tiny plane. Her thoughts returned to Chicago. All through her growing years she had loved playing with words but life had dictated its own terms and she had ended up graduating from Harvard with an MBA degree. But she wasn’t complaining, the longing for her pen had soon been replaced by storyboards and sketches. Before she knew it, she had immersed herself into the field and slowly yet steadily fallen in love with it. She had her brains to thank, she was all aware of that. Her ability to adapt to any field, to any industry had helped make her the successfully businesswoman that she was today. Life had been perfect she thought. She had everything she could dream off, yet the glamour of it all had seemed to fade off quickly.Of what use was a house that stayed empty all the time…of what use were those views for which she hardly had any time.Missy deliberately tried pushing those nagging thoughts out of her mind.

She slowly walked down the aisle, down the tiny steps and onto the tarmac. Kahului was a small airport and the walk towards the terminal was but a few seconds long. But the balminess that engulfed her in those few moments was enough to make her drive out all thoughts and resolve to enjoy the four precious days she had managed getting off from work.

***

Maui was beautiful. No, it was surreal. No, it was paradise. She just couldn't decide. All she knew was, she had been floored since the day she had arrived. Her resort, Kamaole Sands was just what she had hoped for. She was glad she had not booked herself into a Hilton or a Westin. She had wanted to get away from the world she was accustomed to. Staying in a place her circle did not frequent was the first step she had taken. And boy was she glad. She had spent the first three days of her stay exploring the island. Visiting the Maui Ocean Center and watching the sea come to life all around her had been more thrilling than making all those presentations in the boardroom. Wandering around the streets of Lahaina and taking the cruise into the Pacific had been so serene, unlike the silence that kept her company when she worked late. The 'Road to Hana' had brought out the adventurer in her, as she drove along the twists and turns and yelled greetings to all cars that passed by. She had been surprised by her own behaviour, wondered where this Missy had been hidden all these years. And finally she had done what she had heard so much about. She had visited Haleakala, the dormant volcano crater to view the sunrise. As she saw the purple hues of the horizon take birth and the morning star steal across the sky, she had heard the sunrise chant reverberate throughout, just as the Sun graced Earth with its presence. She had felt calm like she never had before.

Today she was at a Luau, watching the locals dance across the crowds as soulful Hawaiian music filled the air. She sat at a distance, watching the Sun she had seen rise just the day before, now melt down into the ocean. Not once had she thought of work these four days she reminisced, a smile slowing forming on her now glowing face. Yes, Maui had done wonders to her. She looked towards the Ocean, the smile broadening as she did something she had never done before. She ran into the ocean, wading into the molten orange waters, jumping around with tinkling laughter each time a tiny crab playfully gave her a nudge. It was as if tiny puppies were nipping at her feet, she thought and for the first time in years, words made way into her mind, awakening that dormant urge for her pen, one she had thought she had put to rest forever.

Warmth flooded through her body and suddenly she knew what happiness truly felt like. All these years she realized, she had survived and never lived. She had been successful but not happy. Grinning from ear to ear she made her way back to her room and for the first time since she had landed, she logged into her email. Her inbox was overflowing with thousands of mails, many requiring her urgent attention. But she ignored them all. It was an evening of firsts for her in more than one way. Eagerly she opened a new mail and typed a message to her boss. Imagining his reaction of horror when he saw her note, she smiled, clicking on the ‘send’ button, knowing that she had done what she should have years ago.

She danced down the steps and asked the front desk to extend her stay for a few days; till she found a place she could call her home. No, there would be no magnificent mile, nor any Navy pier. But there would be her pen and the magic it brought into her life. She had finally decided to follow her heart and not her brain; lose herself to her first love, her writing. After all, “What does the brain matter compared with the heart?” She had finally been able to understand what Virginia Woolf had meant.

Missy knew, she was now at peace with herself.


**Special thanks to Sid Balachandran, the famous Fiction Writer for proof reading the draft and his brainwave for the title of this post :-)