Maybe One Day I'll See You On The News & Say "Hey! I know her!"

Chapter One: Thank God You Speak English!

Niki opened the door to the Airbnb house, not knowing what to expect inside. She knew that it was a shared space, but she did not know who was going to be there to share the space with her. Were they going to be cool or were they about to make this experience a total nightmare. It really could have gone either way. When she first arrived there was already one woman there.

"Hey." The woman greeted Niki.

"Thank God you speak English!" Niki said with huge relief.

She had just come from a different Airbnb where no one spoke English but her. She did not have a problem with foreigners, but it did make her very uncomfortable not being able to communicate with the people around her. So when this woman greeted her, Niki was so happy that she would not have to have her stay be entirely silent like in the last place. Although, really, Niki did not have much of a choice. She had to be here in this house, whether she was able to enjoy it or not.

"Yes I do," the woman said with a polite laugh.

"My name is Daisy. What's yours?" she asked Niki.

"My name is Niki. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too. Where are you coming from?" she asked inquisitively.

"Oh gosh. What a long story!" Niki shook her head in disbelief of the crazy events that occurred in her life recently.

"I'm actually from this area, but technically I'm homeless right now."

Daisy's eyes opened wide. "Oh no! What happened?"

Niki took a deep breathe before answering so that she could answer the question calmly. "I got evicted."

"Did you go to court?" Daisy asked, just like many others before her did.

"I chose not to." Niki replied. "I hated it there. I hated my roommate. I was miserable there. Why would I go to court to fight over something that I didn't even want anyways?"

"So you just chose to leave with nowhere to go?" Daisy was shocked.

"Yup, nowhere to go and just a little money from some really caring friends."

"Wow."

Niki was used to this reaction. She was still in shock herself. She couldn't blame others for being shocked too.

"I chose to leap. I chose to trust that wherever I was going next had to be better than where I came from."

"And has it been?" Daisy was genuinely curious.

"So far... yes. Yes it has been."

"Well then good for you! Welcome."

And with that she retreated to her room, leaving Niki to settle in.

Niki's bed was actually a pull out sofa bed in the living room of the house. The only thing making it somewhat more private was a divider the length of the bed. Was it ideal? Nope. Definitely not. But Niki didn't really care. All she wanted was to be safe and to have some peace and quiet. Something she hadn't had in years. She had just arrived at this Airbnb and already she felt better than she had living in the house she left. That house was terrible. It was old, dirty, and broken. Most of the broken stuff was a result of the roommate that lived there. The landlord put in the least amount of effort he could. Just enough so that the house didn't totally collapse. Nothing more. And this roommate was a tornado of chaos. Niki still shook every time she thought of her time living there. She had to remind herself that she was not there anymore. She didn't have to deal with any of that anymore. She was on a new journey now. A scary one perhaps, but she was determined to stay positive, strong, and make the best of it. She deserved to be free. She deserved to feel safe. And her adventurous spirit was secretly smiling at all of this. She had dreamed of breaking free and experiencing new things and now she was going to do just that.

For now though, she was exhausted. It was time for a nap. And so she drifted off to sleep on her temporary living room bed.

This is the first chapter of a new book that I am working on. I wanted to share it with my fellow Vocal users to see what you guys think. This book was inspired by some real life events. After these events occurred, I knew I had to write about them. I will be working on the rest of the book. If you liked this chapter and want me to post more, hit the like button, comment, or tip! Thank you! - Monika B.