Direction

Scrisă de: TasSSingh

"Always listen to your heart, because even though its on your left side , it's always right." - Nicholas Sparks

Lucy

Meet Lucy Gray. She was the only daughter of John and Mary Gray, both of whom had high hopes of her becoming a successful heart surgeon. Both Mary and John had very high standards and were incredibly fussy and picky people. It was no surprise that this same fussiness and pickiness filtered its way into Lucy's life.

Lucy stayed in West City. She was adored by her family and friends. After completing a Bachelors Degree in Science, Lucy was at a loss for what she wanted to do. Her parents wanted her to be a surgeon, but Lucy did not feel that this was for her. She had a passion for nature photography. She always thought that her career would be somehow involved in this field. But like most things, her parents did not approve and so Lucy accepted this, ignored her heart and hid her passion deep within.

She was twenty-four years old and this meant that her parents had already started searching for prospective "husband" material. It had seemed that their search was over with the introduction of Cole Douglas, a medical school graduate, into Lucy's life. Her parents, for obvious reasons, loved Cole and it seemed as if they expected Lucy to feel the same.

Had it been five years ago, Lucy would have confided all of this in her best friend and neighbour, Daniel Weston. Lucy fondly remembered him for his sparkling brown eyes and messy brown hair. For some reason, he always carried around a distinctive bright blue surfboard (even though West City was miles away from the beach) and insisted upon bringing it with him wherever he went. When it wasn't with Daniel then it was in a special place of honor on Daniel's front patio.

Daniel always gave Lucy the best advice when it came to her parents. He always supported her, regardless of what her situation was and he always made sure Lucy was happy. He even took Lucy to their Graduation Party when her date (organised by her parents) failed to show up. Daniel was Lucy's confidant. Her best friend. The one person Lucy knew she could trust with anything.

But there was one thing Lucy had not told Daniel. A secret so powerful, Lucy truly believed that it could destroy their entire friendship. Lucy did not only consider Daniel to be her best friend. She also had developed deep and powerful feelings for him. She would go as far as to say that she loved him. But Lucy did not know how Daniel would take the news and so she never told him. Nobody, except for Lucy and her trusty diary knew this secret. She vividly remembered ironically writing her confession down on a Valentines Day. It was ironic because instead of revealing her true feelings for Daniel on the day dedicated to love itself, she chose to hide it. And once again, chose to ignore her heart and shut away her feelings for Daniel.

Then one day, when Lucy got up out of bed and looked over at Daniel's house, she noticed that Daniel's room curtains were shut. It had been almost 10am and if Daniel was not up by that time then something had to have been wrong. When Lucy glanced at the patio, she noticed that the famous blue surfboard was gone and so was Daniel's car.

This was odd because Daniel usually never left without telling Lucy where he was going. She had quickly rushed over to Daniel's house and frantically knocked on his front door. When Anne (Daniel's mother) answered the door, she had puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

Lucy painfully remembered Anne telling her Daniel had decided to leave the city overnight and left them a note saying he would not be coming back. He did not say why and he left all his belongings, including his cellphone behind. The only thing he took with him was a couple changes of clothes and his surfboard.

Five years later, Lucy had finished her degree a year longer than expected and was now possibly being rushed into marriage with a snobby surgeon whom she barely knew.

"Lucy!" came a voice from behind her room door.

"Cole is here for tea. Would you please come downstairs?" called Lucy's mother.

Sighing, Lucy got up from her bedroom floor. She had been wistfully staring at her photo wall, which was covered with pictures of her and Daniel's various adventures together, painfully missing her best friend.

Halfway down the stairs, Lucy met her mother who had panic written all over her face.

"Lucy! There you are! Cole doesn't know you are here and we do not have enough cakes! Please would you go to the bakery and get some?!" Mary said frantically.

Lucy knew all too well that they had more than enough food to satisfy their guests. But Mary being Mary, always made sure she was ready to feed an army.

"Of course Mom," Lucy laughingly replied. "Can I use your car?"

"Yes. But hurry, you have to go to the bakery on Rose Street, you know they have the best cakes in town!" Mary exclaimed.

Lucy smiled. Rose Street was at least a twenty minute drive from her house and this meant that she could get out of at least forty minutes worth of conversation with Cole. With this mind, Lucy happily got into the car and began the drive to Rose Street's famous bakery.

Daniel

Daniel was about to take his surfboard out to explore the crazy waves that the Silent Coast had to offer. With its sparkling blue waters and pearly white sand, Daniel considered this to be his own personal heaven.

Funnily enough it was called the Silent Coast owing to the fact that nobody ever visited it. But it was far from silent. The waves crashed and splashed about in a frenzy and the water got so high that when it came crashing down it echoed throughout the lifeless beach. Nobody had ever dared to venture out to investigate the source of the thunderous crashing. Daniel had yet to see another adventurer come to visit The Silent Coast.

The waves here were higher than he had ever seen and thanks to the rockless expanse of coast, it was a perfect destination for surfing.The sun rose high and cast its gleaming rays all across the bright cerulean waters. The water sparkled and glistened so much that one would have thought that someone had strewn a thousand gems across the water. Daniel quickly grabbed his camera and snapped a few photographs to remember this flawless day.

'Lucy would have loved it here' thought Daniel, staring at the camera. And for reasons he knew all too well, he thought back to the day he had decided to leave West City which was one of the most dreadful days of his life.

Daniel had just gotten back from his afternoon run and was about to text Lucy to ask her if she wanted to binge watch the next season of 'Beachy' (their favorite comedy series) when he ran into Mary, Lucy's mother, throwing out the trash.

"Oh Hi Mrs Gray! I almost didn't see you there," exclaimed Daniel.

"Yes, hi Daniel," Mary angrily replied.

"Is... is everything okay, Mrs Gray?" Daniel asked upon seeing Mary's angry expression.

The next sentence changed Daniel's life and he remembered each and every word as well as the sharp and biting tone they came with.

"No. But it will be soon," replied Mary.

"Now listen to me Daniel, I am ordering you to stay away from my daughter. Lucy wants to have nothing to do with you and John and I think you are a distraction for Lucy. And so I am telling you now, stay away."

And with that, Mary Gray quietly returned to her home.

Daniel had never felt such a stabbing pain in his chest. He never thought he would hear such horrible and cruel words from a woman he grew up next door to. Looking across to the Gray's house, he got a sinking feeling that perhaps Lucy had figured out how he felt about her. Perhaps Lucy did not feel the same and was disgusted by his feelings of adoration and love for her. He did not know for sure. But one thing was for certain, he had no idea how he would ever be able to face Lucy now. He had no idea what Lucy thought of him but if it was bad enough for Lucy's mother to tell him to stay away and not Lucy herself, then he definitely had messed up.

It was at that moment that Daniel decided to leave. He would leave and find a place to call his own. He quickly wrote his parents a letter, explaining what he was doing. He showered and grabbed a few sets of clothes and his surfboard, got into his car and left.

He drove for hours. Crashing on friend's couches and after making them promise not to tell anyone where he was, continued on his quest. He had no idea where he was going, but he let his heart guide him and that seemed good enough for him.

Two days later, Daniel found the Silent Coast, and decided to stay. He found an abandoned beach cabin and spent the next few months renovating it with the money he had saved. He attended the community college in the next town and got a degree in Business. He opened his very own surf shop a year later however, business was slow as the Silent Coast was not very well known.

Six months later, he opened a photography store in North City which grew successfully and allowed Daniel to live happily and comfortably. He planned to live out his life peacefully, on the Silent Coast. He made occasional trips to the other cities, where he planned on opening new stores but even with his success and wealth, Daniel still always felt a huge void in his life and he knew that no one would ever be able to fill the Lucy sized hole in his heart, except for Lucy herself.

Feeling saddened enough for the day, Daniel grabbed his long time blue surfboard and, leaving his emotions behind, headed out to the surf.

The Night Daniel Left Town

After throwing out the trash, Mary Gray entered the house and shut the door.

"Hey mom, did Daniel get back from his run yet? I wanted to watch the new season of 'Beachy' with him," Lucy asked walking in from the next room.

"Oh yes, as a matter of fact I just saw him now Lucy," replied Mary. "He told me to tell you that he is really tired after his run and he just wants to sleep but he'll text you later," continued Mary.

"Oh okay, that's fine. I'll just head up to my room then," replied Lucy, looking crestfallen.

"Oh darling, could you do me just one favour?" asked Mary.

"Of course Mom, what is it?" replied Lucy.

"Won't you please make your father and I a cup of tea and bring it to the living room?" Mary asked whilst heading towards the stairs.

"Sure Mom," replied Lucy and began to fill the kettle with water.

Mary hurriedly rushed up the stairs to Lucy's room and left her daughter's diary back where she had taken it from. She then entered the study where John Gray was sitting, reading the daily newspaper.

"You can give the Smiths a call back now John, I think Lucy is ready to meet their son," said Mary with a wink. "Dinner will be ready at 6," she called back to him, walking out of the study.

***

When Lucy later came into her room, she found her diary on the floor, thinking it must've fallen, she picked it up and curiously read what day it fell on, it read:

14 February

"Dear Diary, I have a secret to confess. You are the only one who knows about this and nobody, especially not Daniel, must find out..."

Lucy

The day after Cole had visited The Grays, Lucy awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee coming from her bedside. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Good morning Lucy!" chimed a familiar voice.

Lucy looked up to see her mother smiling down at her with a tray filled with baked goods from the bakery on Rose Street that Lucy had picked up the afternoon before.

"Hi Mom," Lucy said whilst stifling a yawn. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something," replied Mary, whilst making herself comfortable on Lucy's armchair.

"Sure... what is it?" Lucy asked questioningly.

"Well, Lucy, I wanted to know what you thought about Cole,"said Mary whilst carefully studying Lucy's facial expression.

"Well. I don't particularly like him all that much.I just think we're too different," replied Lucy.

"Too different? But Honey, Cole and you are basically the same person. From the career dreams to your favourite colour. I really don't understand why you would say that Lucy, I mean if you think about it, you and Daniel were actually too diff-," Mary continued but Lucy was no longer listening.

At the mention of Daniel's name, Lucy's mind wandered back to that fateful day all those years ago, when Daniel had decided to leave West City. What would have happened if Lucy went after him? Sure, she had no idea where he went but what would have happened if she just tried? Would she still be here? Would she be living a different life? Would she be happy?

"...Cole is such a lovely boy. I heard that they have a - ," continued Mary in the background.

Lucy glanced to her photo wall. Daniel's smiling face beamed back at her. She wondered what he would look like now, after all these years. Did he still have the same sparkling eyes? Was his hair just as messy as before, or did he finally learn to use a hairbrush? What was he doing with his life now? Was he still the same kind and caring person he used to be? Was he still full of incredible advice?

'Advice...' thought Lucy. 'What would Daniel tell me to do in this situation?' she wondered.

And suddenly, like lightning, it struck her. Lucy did not have to deal with this. She didn't have to go to medical school. She didn't have to speak to Cole Douglas. She didn't have to let her parents find her a husband. She didn't need to stay in West City at all for that matter. She could leave. She was an adult. She could go wherever she wanted. She could go where she felt happy. And that's when Lucy finally learnt one of the most important lessons of her life; she didn't need to follow her parents instructions and orders and demands. No. She needed to follow her heart.

"...and their South Sea beach house is almost three storeys hi-"

"MOM!," shouted Lucy. "I've had enough. I can't do this anymore. I don't want to go to medical school. I don't want to marry Cole Douglas. I don't care about his family's beach house or who they know.I appreciate everything you and dad have done for me, but I need to do what's right for me now. I need to do what will make me happy. And I will never be able to do that with you constantly interfering in my life!" screamed Lucy.

With that, she flung off the duvet, walked to her closet and started bundling outfits into her overnight bag. She had been holding in years and years of frustration and she had finally reached her breaking point.

"Lu...Lucy? What are you doing? Where are you going?" questioned Mary.

Ignoring her mother, she quickly finished packing up her toiletries and ran to take what was the quickest shower of her life. When she emerged from the bathroom, her mother had left from her room.She quickly packed up her camera bag, and backpack and hurried downstairs to write her parents a quick goodbye note.

Five minutes later, Lucy was backing out of her West City home driveway for the last time. And she was about to embark on one of the best journeys of her life with no maps or navigation. The only direction she had was her heart, and she had finally started to learn how to follow it.

It had been six days since Lucy Gray had decided to leave her home in West City.

Lucy didn't follow specific directions or a route. She just drove where she felt was right. She did have to stay overnight in a couple motels along the way. She arrived in North City and was met with a rumble in the background. She recognised it immediately. Grabbing her camera she set out to find the source of the unmistakeable sound of crashing water.

***

A few hours later, Lucy had been manoeuvring her way through a particularly dense thicket when she lost her balance and stumbled. However, instead of landing on wet, hard ground. She landed face first into something rough and gritty. She looked up and was met with the most beautiful scenery she had ever seen.

It was a perfectly undisturbed beach. The water was a vibrant blue colour and the shore was a pearly white colour. Lucy smiled. Perhaps this was the start of her photography journey. She took out her camera and peered through the lens, focusing on a portion of the pristine pearly white beach and the large expanse of cyan sparkling water. She moved to take the photograph, when a man emerged out of the water. He was tall and had distinctive features. He looked oddly familiar. But it wasn't until an unmistakably bright blue surfboard came into focus that Lucy realised who it was.

"Daniel..." Lucy breathed. And she took off running towards him.

The End.