It was midday but the sky was covered in a thick blanket of rain clouds, painting it a deep shade of gray. Every now and then lightning could be seen but no sound of thunder. A storm was approaching. Monica was more than delighted.

She had arrived at the city of Karmela, a port city that sat on the shores of Harkand sea. A small yet busy city. Having a port meant that much of the trade that happened in this country would pass though this city which made it home to plenty of trading companies from across the country and overseas. So was the case with RK Traders. A tiny office space tucked away in a complex; its only job was to monitor any incoming goods through the port. However, they rarely ever traded overseas and so the number was quite small.

Monica sat at the window, looking outside at the picturesque view of the city and the sea. Small droplets of rain drizzled, giving the city skyline a soft, pastel like appearance. The sea, that sat beyond the city, was calm with gentle waves covering its surface. She could spot a few ships scattered along the horizon. They looked so small and almost insignificant despite their size. At a distance, just along the horizon, sat the city’s lighthouse guiding those who might have gotten lost back to the safety of its shore. She always loved the melancholy of rainy days. Days like these reminded her that being sad was not such a bad thing for without sadness, one can never truly appreciate the joyful moments in life.

“Here you go,” Shilpa said as she held a cup of coffee. Monica accepted it, replying with heartfelt thank you. She sipped the coffee, still looking outside. The melancholy melted away from the warmth of bittersweet coffee.

“You sure seem to be enjoying the mood,” commented Mohan, the other person in the room.

Turning away from the window, she saw Mohan typing away at his computer. He was the senior and he certainly looked the part. Dressed in a strict formal attire with neatly combed hair and perfectly trimmed beard, his wife often asked why he would take all that trouble when he was the only one working in the office. It was true. He was the only one who worked at the office ever since it was setup four years ago. He was pretty comfortable working all alone. There was never too much work and he always had control on things in his tiny office. However, this perfect life of his didn’t last long. The company was always keen on expanding its overseas business. Though it was a slow process, work started piling up until one day he had to fold and hire an assistant.

Shilpa, who joined a year ago, on the other hand was as opposite to Mohan as one could get. She often used her charm to get her way around things and so she always tried to look the part too. Yet, being from an orthodox family, she could never stray too far from the path. She would often be seen wearing a cotton Chudidar while carrying around a jute woven handbag. Her neatly braided hair complimented by a thin yet decorative Bindi, one look at her and you would know that this woman lives by her traditions. However, the truth is that she is a lot more ambitious than she presents herself. Her bubbly nature doesn’t match the image of a daring dreamer, but they say never to judge a book by its cover.

Mohan caught on to this quality of hers very quickly. Ever since she arrived, things have been sailing smoothly. It was not just dedication but her enthusiasm to push herself and those around her. While Mohan took every opportunity to keep his work to the minimum, Shilpa would make sure that that wouldn’t be the case. Most of the time this was an annoyance to him but slowly her personality began to rub off on him.

“You see such beautiful scenery every day?” Monica asked.

“It is monsoon. So, you will see this for quiet sometime,” Shipa answered.

“I have never seen the sea before,” Monica said, turning back through the window.

“Ah! So, like what you see?” Mohan asked still glued to his computer screen.

“It is beautiful. I like it,” Monica replied with a smile. She took another sip of coffee before taking in the scent of the rain. It filled her with joy as the earthly smell blended with bittersweet taste of coffee.

“Well… you can join here. You will get to see the sea every day,” Shilpa asked.

“Thanks for the offer. Maybe I will. But right now, I am enjoying jumping from place to place,” Monica replied.

“Gosh!” Shilpa exclaimed, “it must be wonderful to be travelling for work.”

“It has… its ups and downs,” Monica replied. She wanted to paint a realistic picture of her job. Not everything was daisies and sunflowers.

“Even then, it is not the same as being stuck in one place,” Shilpa replied. She longed to travel the world like everyone else.

“Sounds like you want to get away from your husband,” Mohan remarked sarcastically.

“Oh please! I love my husband. Who else would trust their wife and send her to a job?” she answered.

“Yes, yes, I know…” he said.

“To bad he doesn’t like to travel,” Shilpa exclaimed. She had a big frown on her face and Monica understood how much she longed explore the world the way Monica herself did.

“Is that so?” Monica asked.

“Yes. He got homesick during our honeymoon. It started off great, until he started complaining about how he missed sleeping on his own bed.”

Monica withheld her laughter. She turned away toward the window and silently laughed under her breath. “I can relate to that,” Monica said looking out into the sea, “I never imagined being away from home so long. Yet here I am.”

“Why did you leave your home?” Shilpa asked curiously.

Monica, however, remained silent. Her smile disappeared as she recalled the reason why she choose to leave. “I didn’t want to stay there anymore,” she replied, looking back at Shilpa, “but the point is, I do believe people can adapt. Sure, they will resist at first but eventually they will learn.”

Shilpa smiled softly on hearing that. She returned to her computer and replied, “I doubt that is really true.”

“You will truly be surprised to know,” Monica replied before taking another sip from the cup.

Monica’s life always swung to the extremes. Either her days would be painfully dull and boring or punishingly hard and depressing. When given the choice, she ultimately chose to settle down and live a quiet life. But it wasn’t long before she got tired of the normal life. When presented with an opportunity to travel, she took it without a second thought. Travelling the world sounds beautiful, but only until you do it, do you learn of the difficulties it presents itself. For one, she could never dictate where she would go to next, yet she had to keep moving no matter what. Once a job at a place was done, she was on a bus to her next destination and next office to audit. Travelling for a man can present trouble from time to time and for woman, it can be more than a walk in the park. Monica is yet to find any comfort in this new lifestyle, but she is slowly adapting. Trouble always brews at the most unfortunate time, especially when she is far from a place where she can find all her needs. But that taught her to be more prepared and now when a problem presented itself, her solution to it was just a handbag away. While her attachments to a home weren’t there anymore, she still longed for a place to call home and return to.

***

“Where are you heading to now?” Shilpa asked. They stood at the junction where their paths were to diverge. Traffic was heavy and the streets were filled with people. Shops covered the building all around them and they were working at max capacity despite the harsh weather.

“I actually wanted to go to a village nearby,” she replied.

“Where is that?” Shilpa asked.

“You are heading to Shatinagar warehouse?” Mohan asked. He was left behind to lock the office down but eventually caught up to them.

“Yes.”

“I suggest you don’t now. A storm is coming, and you don’t want to get caught in it,” Mohan suggested.

“I know, but I don’t want to delay it. Besides…” she looked down at her mobile on which a map application was opened, “it is walk-able.”

“At least take the bus. One comes to that stop every ten minutes and it goes by the village,” Shilpa said pointing at a bus stop across the junction.

“Thanks. But I prefer walking. The road runs along the coastline. Will be beautiful walk,” Monica answered.

“I suggest you don’t. It was drizzling just moments ago, and you cannot predict the weather here,” Shilpa replied shaking her head.

“No issues. It is only a thirty-minute walk,” Monica said assuring. “I even got myself an umbrella just in case.”

***

The umbrella did not provide any protection. She was about halfway from her destination, and she already found herself drenched in rain from the head to the toes.

“Oh, why do I do this to myself?” she asked herself has she walked along the road.

It wasn’t just raining; it was pouring, and the once calm waves now looked terrifyingly large. Yet a large stretch of land sat between the sea line and the paved road. Across the sea was large acres of farmland. She knew she had left the city behind on seeing the land change from concrete to lush green farmlands. It would have a wonderful walk, taking in the countryside while rain drizzled on a gloomy day. However, this turned out to be a disaster.

She stopped for a moment and looked around. There was no vehicle in sight and no village either. She looked for a place to rest for a moment or at least find a cover from the rain. However, there wasn’t even one tree in sight. She looked to see that there was no human in sight either. Seizing the opportunity, she decided to make a shelter herself. She stretched her hands into the air as her eyes glowed blue. The rain that was pelting her so long suddenly found itself bouncing off an invisible dome over her. Monica finally found some dry space and used this moment to pull out her phone. The waterproof bag of hers kept most of its content dry, including the smartphone. The map was already open, and it told her she still had more than half the distance to cover. Monica let out a dull sign while rolling her eyes. She put the mobile back into her bag and looked around to find any shelter in the distance. She cannot continue to walk in the rain anymore and it looked like it was going to get worse.

A little further down on the shore, she found a small, lonely shed made of wood. It was tiny and didn’t seem to be properly closed. She wondered if anyone was in it. Thinking for a few seconds, she concluded that it was better than nothing. As she observed the shed a little more closely, she found something odd. Before the shed were two boats. Boats that were unusually far from the sea line. The land between the road and sea seemed to be quite large. The first thought that entered her mind was that it must have been low tide.

She peered at the horizon, but the heavy rain distorted much of her vision. Yet, it took very little effort to see the sea rise unusually high. The sea line was still far from the boats, but the water in the sea itself continued to rise. She felt heartbeat thumping against her chest on the realization of what might be approaching her. She tried to deny it, said it must be a mistake, an illusion. Yet the wall of water approaching her would not stop. The horizon rose into the sky as the water was now over forty feet tall. She looked at the mountain of water in pure shock, her jaw dropped, her breath stuck in her throat.

She had been through a lot. Near death experience is one of her specialities. Yet when standing right before nature’s unrelenting fury, all that experience seemed useless, and she felt like an insignificant speck in the grand scheme of things. For the first time, in a very long time, Monica felt fear fill and turn her stomach and all she could do was stand and watch.

‘Do something!’ she screamed on the inside and her instincts finally kicked in, jolting her awake. By then the wave had reached land and was only but a few feet away. Never had Monica witnessed so much water with so much fury. A wall forty feet tall stood before her as it slammed into the coast. The tiny wooden shed and two boats in front of it were decimated by the force of the wave which was now swallowing the street that Monica was on.

She took a step back as water from the wave flooded the street. She was still protected by the invisible dome, but she knew very well it could not stand the force of the wave. ‘What do I do? What do I do?’ Monica kept repeating as she looked around for help. There was no help. She found herself facing imminent death all alone. She immediately broke the barrier and squatted down. With all strength she pushed herself off the ground, jumping well over sixty feet into the air. The wave slammed into the land, pushing through to the farmland. Water flooded the ground beneath her as she watched in horror. She was safe, but only for mere moments for Monica had the strength to touch the sky, but not the ability to stay there as long as she wanted.

She was floating, although not with much control. She felt herself slipping, as her slowly continued to descend. She helplessly swung her arms and legs, pretending to like swimming but actually drowning while desperately trying to formulate a plan to escape this conundrum. The clock was ticking, the water had already swept far inland and the sea beneath her was furious.

The roof of the shed, that was trapped between a light pole and rock, finally snapped, and tumbled her way. Monica noticed it but it was far too small a target. She desperately pushed herself off the ground with her power, but the moving water made it hard to focus on anything underneath her. It was no use, she had to eyeball it. Ever second felt like an eternity as she waited for the piece of wood to float beneath her. It took only a second but when it did arrive, Monica let go, falling into the sea beneath. She missed her mark by a foot. The piece of wood was floating away while Monica was to still recover from her fall. But the raging sea pushed her in the direction of the wood. Stretching her hand out, she was able to grab onto the broken roof before pulling herself over it.

It was small but just enough for Monica to fit on it. She thought she would be, at the very least, in control of her movement, but she was wrong. The rushing water had no intention of letting her get away that easy. It pushed and sloshed underneath the broken roof as Monica desperately held onto it. Cracks in the wood allowed her grip onto something, but the water was too turbulent and she felt that she would fly off it at any moment.

Her eyes glowed blue as she used her power. A blue aura swept the roof and Monica felt in control as she pushed the roof against the flowing water. She wasn’t being rocked violently anymore as she finally floated into a more open space. She remembered the rich green farm that was now underneath four feet of water. Looking ahead, she saw a lone tree standing against the force of the wave. It was a banyan tree which stood mighty tall and sturdy. Roots from its branches touched the sea, she realized she could grab onto it and climb up. Just then, she noticed a few men already hiding in its branches. They too saw her floating their way.

Two men quickly descended the tree onto the branch that was closest to the water, with one of them flipping upside down and reaching out to Monica. She let go of the roof and got on her feet, squatting as she readied to jump. The current slowed and this gave her enough of a window to jump and grab onto the man’s arm. She hung freely with the sea underneath but only for a moment as the two men pulled her up. She quickly latched onto a branch and wrapped her arms around it. She was finally able to breathe easy. “You, okay?” the man who just pulled her out asked. She nodded silently and whispered a thank you.

“Another one!” a man from top screamed. They looked out to the sea and saw yet another wave charging towards them. This wave was taller and faster than before as it rode on the sea left behind by the previous one.

“Climb!” the second man shouted.

All the six men and Monica began to climb as the wave approached. Monica found herself climbing faster than two men, so she stopped to help them. She pulled one of them up and tossed him on to a branch above her. The man stopped and stared at her with a surprise. “Climb!” she exclaimed, snapping the man back to reality.

She heard the creaking of a branch, making her look below. She saw the man who just pulled her up desperately clinging onto a branch which was buckling under his weight. He began to scream helplessly as his hand could reach the nearest branch. Just then, the hand he had reached out a few moments ago, grabbed onto him. “Let go!” Monica shouted as she prepared to pull him in.

“Faster!” a voice from above screamed as the wave was moments away from crashing into them. Monica used all her might to pull and toss the man up into the air. He found himself suddenly flying, crashing into the branches above. He flung his arms, trying to catch onto anything and he did, clinging onto the branch which did not break this time.

Monica, meanwhile, felt like she was just hit by a wall. She held onto the branch as firmly as she could, but the force of the wave proved to be too strong. The branch finally gave in, and Monica fell into the water which swept her away. The men, who were still on the tree watched in horror as she disappeared into the sea.