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Gone

"'r NAOMI SAIFUKU
HE ROAR of the engine is low and the gigantic plane gradually
ascends into the heavens. Ground seems far below you and the
island is ablaze with lights. One mountain top looks like the next
and everything is a symphony of glowing brillance against a back-
drop of deep, dark satin. Destination unknown while the island be-
ing left behind is the only thing you've known. You wish that the
plane would go slower so that you could remember each place as you
flew over it. But you seem to race by and have only your memories.

The last few days were so full of activity, yet you realized all the
while that each turn in the road would be the last. It would mean
the last time for everything that had grown familiar to you-the trees,
the landmarks, your neighborhood and your home. You were leaving
all this to go somewhere new-so new that you could not even picture
it in your mind. Yes, those last days were memorable ones-you de-
cided to do the same day-to-day things so that the impact of leaving
would not be too great. Each night you counted how many more
times you would sleep in your own bed. Each night you marked oft
another day and all too soon, you began counting the hours. It
seemed then that-leaving was so final and definite, as though you would
cease to exist once you boarded that plane. You conceived of your-
self only as living on the island-breathing away from it was a thought
in another world, in another realm of reality.

Being away from your family did not move you as did the
thought of being away from the island-your island and your world.
It is such a little piece of land-and yet so very large. Large enough
to have preoccupied your nineteen years of a lifetime. How could you
leave this? How could you venture into the new and unknown? You
had no friends there, no relatives. All you could think was that you
had lived and wanted to continue living-no matter where, even oft
the island. Yes, that little island of your childhood, your dreams, your
aspirations. A little speck of land of immense beauty and wealth-
wealth in its memories-you kept in your heart. You left a segment 01
your heart in that island, and at the same time, you wanted to keep
on living-with a part of your heart gone. You didn't dare to ask
yourself: Is it going to be worth it? Will I regret leaving-never to
come back? You pushed these thoughts out of your mind-always
remembering that somewhere you would find a place as beautiful and

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