Nothing is what it seems

It was an eerie wintry day,  

and the sound of the clock ticking had Alana on edge.  

She tapped her fingers on the desk the last few minutes she had left of work dragged on. Slouching back in her chair, finally, the awaited time has come. Lana looks at her phone, she is drained and in desperate desire of a getaway. As the rain pours, she looks into her handbag and starts shuffling around to look for an umbrella, but to no avail. Walking through the rain Lana closes her eyes, suddenly she envisions herself on a beach, in a bikini, sipping on a mojito with golden straw, she is in a place where its warm and the beach water is so clear she can clearly see her reflection staring back at her. “AHHH heaven, Lana says, she opens her eyes and feels inspired to book a holiday, as she writes beautiful holidays into the search, something happens a huge ad pops up it reads in bold, “Visit a place where your worries are banned and the sun never leaves, excited she clicks on the ad, she reads and she reads out loud, “No need to spend an arm and a leg for a vacation we have you covered, Lana cannot contain her excitement she quickly clicks on the payment button and gets going. She then calls her boss and tells him she is going on holiday; he does not seem to be bothered as she is a skilled worker. She goes to sleep with an enormous smile on her face. The vision of the sand beneath her toes and the palm trees circulates in her mind. Suddenly she hears her alarm ring she wakes up and realises today is the day she is off to her holiday destination; she puts on some music and dances while she brushes her teeth in the mirror. As she splashes water on to her face, she feels the bliss come out of her pores. Stepping out of the bathroom she grabs her suitcase and heads out the door, she looks down at her phone waiting for her uber driver, a grey sedan pulls up and she jumps in, the uber driver has the music blaring and to her astonishment he is listening to a bob Marley track, truly what she needed. She nods her head to the beat and lays her hand on her lap. The uber driver looks at her through his front mirror and smiles. He says, “I like when people appreciate delightful music Ya know, it’s medicine for the soul. Lana is so enter wined with the music she continues dancing through the song, she opens the window, and screams out, “Jamaica, here I come! before she knows it, they roll up at the airport, the taxi driver steps out, he has long dreads and a Rasta hat on, he opens the boot of his car and helps her with her luggage, she grins at him and gives him a tip. The Uber driver then yells back, “Enjoy Jamaica. Lana walks through the automatic doors and starts scanning the screens for boarding gates to Jamaica, she was very prepared she even checked in prior, she then hears, Florida to Jamaica, gates now open, we are boarding. Everything seems so surreal she cannot believe she has scored such a glorious trip to beautiful Jamaica; she boards the plane and gets the window seat; everything feels like it is going right. Sitting back in her plane seat she dozes off to sleep, the time goes so fast because she gets woken up by a flight attendant, tapping on her shoulder. She plays with her hair and gets up and walks out of the plane. She screams, “YES! Touchdown. Her excitement does not go unnoticed as everyone stares at her. She walks outside and goes into a minibus, all the passengers are headed to the same location and hotel, she sits in her seat, Lana puts her head out of the window and breathes in the fresh air, the scenery is so breath-taking, they pull up at a simple yet stunning hotel, all the passengers step out, and walk towards the hotel, Lana scurries into the hotel and gets to the reception desk, where she is greeted by a tall concierge, he says in a really high-pitched tone, “Welcome to Waves and serenity hotel, may I have your name please? Lana responds saying, “My name is Lana Hamilton, he looks at her and hands her a key, room 402 suite floor 2, there is an open bar, and toiletries in the room, one bathroom so you may have to share, Lana looks at the concierge confused by lets out a nervous laugh, and says,” Share? No, I think your mistaken I have a single room for myself, the concierge than hands her a paper whilst saying, “Holiday fun bargain holiday, yes you ride the minibus alone but the suite you share it says it here in small print, your extra has not checked in yet. Lana suddenly feels a rage surging inside her and screams saying, “You cannot scam people like this where does it say that I have to share my suite with a stranger! It is hardly luxurious. She continues yelling for a solid ten minutes, then a feeling of tiredness takes over at this point she wants to go to bed, so she storms off, everything felt like a lie a sugar-coated façade. She enters the lift, behind her there is a man with a balaclava on and gloves, she is too enraged to turn around so she gets out on floor two. As she gets out, she opens the door to her suite and following behind her is the man with the balaclava, she does not notice the mystery man coming into the suite until she looks up, she lets out a scream, but the walls are soundproof so no one can hear her. She heads towards the balcony and tries to close the fly screen, all she can hear is breathing, he starts tugging at the door and manages to open it, he gets close to Lana, some might say a little too close for comfort, he put his hand in his pocket, and Lana closes her eyes, she feels like this could be her demise, but then the masked man takes off his balaclava, her eyes are still closed. She is too scared and she can feel her heart beating through her chest. Suddenly she opens her eyes standing in front of her is a man with 3rd degree burn marks all over his face and body. Lana was not predicting this at all. He sits down and starts rubbing ointment on his face and arms. He finally mutters,“I get this reaction with or without my mask, my name is Richard, I’m a burns victim, a few years ago I was trapped in a car it rolled and set on fire, I was in it, Lana looks up at him and smiles saying, “you’re brave, from these very few moments she realises that life is not as bad as you think it is. Those rainy days, those times are work when you’re sitting at a desk and you can pick up a pencil, looking at Richard, Lana knew her whole view of life had changed, her heart was melting, she touched her skin and her face, tears rolled down her face, they both sat down on the balcony, Lana held his hand and they glanced up at the sunset, and she whispered to the Sky, nothing is without reason.