A trip for sanity

She sprung up at the sound of the hotel alarm blaring. That was not the morning she anticipated after being cajoled for 2 days into coming to a place like this. She looked more in shock that it even had an alarm than the fact that it was an emergency cry.

_{Image source: Cottonbro from Pexels}

Alice had travelled for months, before the death of her dad, to find a place that she could call home, even for a short while. Her best friend, Lola had suggested she come to her hometown, Ekowe, to lay low while she got her mind back in order.

Ekowe is a small community located only 45 minutes away from the closest land. It's sort of like an island but not an island. Well, it's an island divided into two parts. The northern part is the community called Peremabiri and the south is called the Ekowe community.

It's a beautiful division. A flower fence divided both communities as proof of their love for one another. There's also a story about the ancient lovers who fostered this unity but that's a story to be told in the near future.

After the death of her dad, Alice felt lost. The night before she found him lying peacefully on his deathbed, she had told him she loved him for the first time in her life and all he said in return was "I know".

She felt some ease knowing that she had done that but she couldn't bring herself to stay in his mansion after his funeral 2 days ago so she called his trusted friend and pilot and begged to be taken to this community her friend couldn't stop talking about.

Getting here, her first impulse was to get back on the chopper and find her way to her favourite 5-star hotel in Abuja but after 2 minutes of staring at the little ocean, she waved over at her pilot and told him to leave.

She requested the best room available in the only hotel in the community and felt nothing but disgust by the size and lack of amenities. She was raised better. She accepted the keys with a smile and paid extra to have the generator turned on for the rest of her stay there.

Although she was raised in the midst of absurd wealth, her father ensured that she had a modest amount of humility. She was sent over to live in a cottage when she acted badly as a teenager and had been forced on many camping trips to get her accustomed to a life far worse than her reality.

Not saying this hotel was anything like her camping trips to some forest in Minnesota, however, she would have to utilise some safety tips she learned just to stay sane.

Quickly pulling herself into motion, Alice wore a set of gym pants and a t-shirt, picked up her phone, credit cards and laptop, and did a sprint to the hotel lobby.

On her way down she heard the sleep-deprived voices of other occupants demanding to know why they were dragged out of their rooms so early in the morning. She got there and took a brief glance at the other people; a man and 2 other ladies, before settling to stand beside a large potted plant beside the main entrance.

"This is unacceptable!", said the only male standing there in a white hastily worn vest and pyjama pants.

"You mean to tell us that the alarm only went off at 5 am in the damn morning because you were doing a test run?" Said one of the ladies in a 2 piece nightie in a rather calm and sophisticated tone.

"We're terribly sorry, it was an honest mistake..."

She couldn't wait to hear the entire story because it already seemed pretty stupid so she began a sprint back up the stairs when she ran into a strongly built body that quickly steadied her.

She was slightly dishevelled by the impact but the hands that steadied her held her strongly enough that her laptop stayed steady in her arms.

"Are you okay?", said a soft sleepy voice as one of the hands used to steady her raised her chin to give her a sight of the face that owned those arms.

He seemed to be inspecting her face for any sign of pain but in the eyes of anyone who passed, they definitely resembled a couple in a deep embrace.

She immediately felt a wave of discomfort at that thought so she pushed him away slowly, gave a brief smile, nodded and ran with much more urgency than she had intended until she arrived in the safety of her hotel room.

After a few moments of thinking and replaying the scenario those hands, those powerful yet soft eyes... She pulled out her phone and sent a message to Lola explaining what just happened and how she'll be extending her stay for a little while longer.

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I wrote this in submission for the @inkwell prompt. You can take part in it by going here.

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