Someday BEGINs Today

Part 1:

Part 2: By Rowan Finley

Part 3:

Part 4: By Rowan Finley

~~~

Maya woke up slowly, buried deep inside the blanket like a sleepy burrito.

For a moment, she forgot where she was.

Then the sound of ocean waves drifted into her ears, followed by soft humming nearby.

Her eyes fluttered open.

Ethan was already awake, sitting outside the tent with the tiny black kitten curled comfortably against his chest. The sunrise painted everything GOLD around him. He looked weirdly peaceful for someone who clearly had not slept properly at all.

Maya squinted suspiciously. “Why do you look like a sad poet in a COFFEE commercial?”

Ethan looked over and laughed quietly. “Good morning to you too.”

“Did you EVEN sleep?”

“A little.”

“That is the face of a man who lost an argument with his thoughts at 3 a.m.”

He smiled sheepishly, scratching the kitten behind her ears. “Maybe I was just… thinking.”

“Dangerous activity.”

“About YOU, actually.”

Maya immediately pulled the blanket over half her face. “Absolutely disgusting!!! Don’t say emotional things before breakfast.”

Ethan grinned. “Your ears turned PINK again.”

“My ears are innocent civilians.”

“They betray you constantly.”

The kitten suddenly climbed out of Ethan’s lap and waddled toward Maya like she had officially chosen sides.

Maya gasped dramatically while scooping her up. “Seeee? She recognizes maternal excellence.”

“Wow,” Ethan sighed. “Abandoned by my OWN child.”

“She sensed weakness.”

The kitten meowed proudly.

Ethan narrowed his eyes. “You two are becoming a dangerous alliance.”

Maya smirked. “Fear us.”

~~~

An hour later, Maya sat on the hood of Ethan’s car holding an iced coffee the size of her emotional baggage.

“You know,” she said thoughtfully, “Florida is suspiciously pretty. It’s like the air itself is trying to FLIRT with people.”

Ethan nearly choked on his drink laughing. “That might be the weirdest sentence you’ve said so far.”

“So far???”

“We still have the WHOLE day.”

Maya pointed at him dramatically. “You underestimate my power.”

“Oh, I absolutely do not.”

There it was again —that look.

That soft little smile Ethan kept getting whenever he looked at her too long. Like he still couldn’t fully process she was REAL and standing right there beside him.

It made Maya weirdly nervous every single time.

So naturally, she coped with sarcasm.

“You’re staring AGAINNN.”

“I’m literally driving.”

“With emotional intensity.”

“That’s NOT illegal yet.”

~~~

Twenty minutes later, Maya discovered Ethan had secretly brought her to Disney World.

She stood frozen at the entrance gates.

“…you’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“Ethan.”

“Yesss?”

“You casually hid DISNEY from me?”

“I enjoy dramatic reveals.”

“You are chaos wrapped in human skin.”

“And yet,” he smirked, “you trusted me enough to GET in the car.”

“That was temporary poor judgment.”

~~~

The entire park looked like someone had turned happiness into a physical location. Music drifted through the air while children ran around with balloons and giant Mickey-shaped snacks.

Maya looked overwhelmed immediately. “There’s toooo much joy here. I don’t know where to emotionally stand.”

Ethan handed her sparkly mouse ears.

She stared at them. “NoOO.”

Ten minutes later she was wearing them while pretending she hated it.

“You look adorable,” Ethan said.

“I look unemployed.”

“You look MAGICAL.”

“I look like I say ‘gosh’ unironically.”

Ethan laughed so hard he had to lean against a railing.

And honestly? Maya secretly loved hearing that laugh.

~~~

The roller coaster nearly ended her life spiritually.

As the ride climbed higher and higher, Maya slowly grabbed Ethan’s hoodie sleeve.

“Question,” she said nervously. “Why are we still ascending into HEAVEN?”

“That’s usually the first step of roller coasters.”

“I suddenly miss the safety of land.”

The ride dropped violently.

Maya screamed loud enough to frighten nearby birds.

Meanwhile Ethan laughed so hard tears literally formed in his eyes.

When the ride stopped, Maya stumbled out looking personally betrayed by gravity.

“I saw my ancestors.”

“You screamed before the ride even moved.”

“Because the seatbelt clicked aggressively.”

“That sentence makes NO sense.”

“It made perfect sense to my survival instincts.”

Ethan laughed again.

The kind of laugh that made Maya accidentally stare for a second too long.

~~~

As evening arrived, Disney transformed completely.

The castle glowed with thousands of tiny lights while fireworks exploded across the sky like scattered stars. Everything looked unreal.

Maya stood quietly beside Ethan watching the fireworks overhead.

For once, she wasn’t joking.

“This might actually be the happiest day of my life,” she admitted softly.

Ethan looked at her immediately.

Not the fireworks.

Not the castle.

Just HER.

And something in his expression changed for HALF a second. Something softer. Deeper.

Like he wanted to SAY something but kept stopping himself.

Maya noticed. Of course she noticed.

Her heartbeat did an embarrassing little backflip.

Thankfully she recovered quickly. “Wow. You’re looking at me like I just cured sadness.”

Ethan smiled quietly. “Maybe you did.”

That SHUT her up immediately.

Which almost never happened.

“Okay,” Maya said weakly. “Illegal response. You can’t just say things like that without warning labels.”

Ethan laughed softly while reaching over to pull a strand of cotton candy from her hair. His fingers brushed against her cheek gently.

Maya forgot how breathing worked for approximately three business seconds.

Before either of them could say anything else, Ethan suddenly stood straighter like he remembered something.

“Oh. Wait here.”

Maya blinked. “That sentence has NEVER ended peacefully in history.”

But Ethan had already disappeared briefly into the crowd.

A few minutes later, he returned back...

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TO BE CONTINUED…

Stay tuned for part 6, to be written by Rowan Finley. His profile link is provided below: