A Little Bit of Paradise

Let The Adventure Begin

My name is Hoku, short for Hokulani. I moved to South Korea when I was 4, with my dad. Sad to say, the reason I moved with him is because my parents divorced and my father got custody of me due to the fact that he's well off than my mom. So from Honolulu Hawaii, my dad got stationed here in Seoul, we moved and left mom, my brother Kai and twin sister Leah. Being so little at the time, I remember being so sad and longing for my mother. When that happens, my dad usually takes me out to the park near our house or we go to an amusement park to get my mind off things. It did work, to a point that I actually forgot about my mom... until today.

I promised my dad that I will visit my mom after I graduate from university. I have my bachelor's degree in music, majoring in composition. Dad was against it but he can't deny that I got my love for music from him. So now that I agreed to go back to Hawaii while our house here in Seoul gets renovated, he insists that I learn Hawaii's traditional music. It's a great idea, I've been wanting to learn some traditional Hawaiian music. The only thing I'm worried about is how I would be around my mother. We've been e-mailing back and forth for about a year now but that's it. She remarried a year after dad and I left.

"Honey, are you ready?" I heard my dad say through my bedroom door.

"Yes papa." I answered as I swing my backpack on my shoulder.

"Do you need help?" dad opened the door and peeked in.

"I'm good. My luggage is in the car anyway." I went out my room and followed him to the car.

I looked around one last time to remember how the house look.

"It's not going to change much sweetheart. Here's your passport, I already checked you in online." He hands me my passport then open the car door for me.

"Papa, are you sure you don't want to go to the airport with me?" I pouted then smiled.

"You know how I am with this kind of thing." He chuckled.

"Alright papa. I'll FaceTime you as soon as I get to Hawaii." He kissed me on the forehead and I got in the car.

"Hug your mother for me." He smiled and closed the door.

I smiled and sat in silence on the way to the airport. I really don't know what to expect. I looked at the keys to our old house. I wonder if it still looks the same or if anything got moved. My dad asked the care taker to keep it the way it was and to just clean the house once a month. Will I ever even feel safe in that house? I don't remember much of that place.

"Mr. Kim?"

"Yes, Hoku?" He answered.

"I'm nervous."

"Don't be. Your brother Kai will be there. I'm pretty sure he will take good care of you."

I smiled at the thought of seeing my brother again. He used to spend summer with us but when he started college it got too busy for him, and he finally got a girlfriend. I giggled at that thought.

"You seem giggly back there." Mr. Kim smiled and I smiled back at him.

We got to the airport and my heart suddenly started to beat fast. I'm nervous... I can't do this! I told myself over and over.

"Princess... are you okay?" Mr. Kim asked.

"Is this the right thing to do?" I look up at him as a tear escapes my eye.

"Hoku..." he said as he help me out of the car, "I can't tell you the answer. It's you..." he wiped the traitor tears, "who will be able to answer your own question"

"but..." I said as I pouted at him.

"No buts young lady. You will be fine." He smiled and put my luggage in the trolley. "Always remember, If you don't like it there, you just give your dad, or me, a call and I will pick you up."

"Thank you... appa." I smiled

"now go before I start crying and take you back home to your dad." He joked and kissed me on the forehead.

"Okay. Take care of Papa. I'll call when I get settled in." a tight hug and off I went without looking back.

I walked through security and proceeded to get my boarding pass. After that, I sat and waited to board the plane. I pulled my phone out to check it one last time. No service was flashing on top of the screen, it just means that dad didn't forget to call our phone carrier and put my phone on roaming. I slid that piece of technology back in my backpack as they called us to board the plane.

This is it... There's no turning back.