Midnight Sun Challenge Chapter 1.10 "Maya's Homecoming"

Maya's Point of View Part II

Maya's Homecoming

By the time Ian and Maya had finally arrived home from China, it was quite late, pitch dark and raining really hard. The house had no lights on, so Ian took her by the hand and guided her to the bedroom where they both collapsed into bed exhausted from their trip.  The next morning, Maya awoke early, as was her routine, and slowly guided her way downstairs.  The sun had already begun to rise which gave the house a light sunny glow.  She stood in the middle of the main floor and took a look around.  This is it, she thought.  The kitchen was decent, although the stove and fridge were far too old.  The living space, if that is what you could call it, didn't even have a couch or chair to sit on, let alone a television; something she had been really looking forward to.  She didn't grow up with a t.v. and she wondered what Shen's fascination was with it.

The set of stairs from the main floor led her to the basement where she found a single bed and a sculpting wheel.  Back upstairs, Maya stepped out onto the deck of the boat and down onto the dock and gasped.  Looking this way and that, she ran down the dock onto the island and spun frantically in a circle.  Nothing.  Nothing but grey-blue sky and water as far as the eye could see.  Not another soul around.  Not another boat, not another house in site or even any land could be seen in any direction.




It was then a sense of real dread and fear bubbled up from the middle of her soul.  What have I done?  I'm trapped! Fearing the worst, she hoped that she hadn't just walked out of one bad situation, into an even worse one.  What if Ian was a wife abuser too?  What if it all was an act in China?  At least in China she had friends, she had options for escape.  But here?  I can't go through this again; I won't survive it.  In China she had read certain wife abusers came on very sweet in the beginning then became the person they really were, once they had the woman right where they had them;  once the marriage was done and they were living in the man's home.  Plus they often isolated the woman from friends and family, not allowing them to work or go out.  This was the epitome of isolation! 


Heart pounding, senses tingling, Maya was starting to hyper ventilate.  Fear like she had never felt before filled her senses and she became hyper aware of everything around her.  Every sound, every smell added to that fear.  She shook uncontrollably, so much so felt her heart had risen to her throat and her stomach had twisted in knots.  You will not cry, you will not cry, she repeated in her head over and over again.  Get a grip, this will not help you to make a plan to solve this.  You can survive this!  Taking deep breaths to calm her panic, Maya tried to think rationally, without the fear.

Think think think, Maya said tapping her head with her fingers.  There has to be some way out of this mess.  This is not what I signed up for.  I mean this can't be real, can it?   Pacing the island to and fro, Maya worked at keeping panic at bay while she concocted a plan in her head to fix this terrible mistake, while keeping an ear to the door for Ian. Methodically considering all angles, she worked the plan till she knew exactly what she was going to do.  But as we all know plans never seem to go the way they're planned....