Besides being a summer trip to a land full of adventure and tropical heritage, this story was inspired by a Hawaiian Legend: The Curse of Pele.

According to an Wikipedia, Pele's Curse is the belief that anything natively Hawaiian, such as sand, rock, or pumice, will bring bad luck on whoever takes it away from Hawaii. One version about the legend's genesis is this: a disgruntled park ranger, angry at the number of rocks that were being taken from the islands by visitors, said that Pele would curse them with bad luck should they take the relics away from their native homeland.

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Pele is the goddess of fire, lighting, and volcanoes in Hawaiian indigenous religion. She is sometimes called Madame Pele, Tutu (Grandmother) Pele, or Ka wahine ʻai honua, the earth-eating woman. She is a descendant of the Sky Father and a spirit named Haumea. As the goddess of the element of fire, Pele is also considered an akua: the sacred embodiment of a natural element.

With that said, in my story, Ian Aukai was one of Pele's old suitors. He came to the island as a flamboyant man. One with abs and muscles as Lucinda and Iris saw in both the airplane ride and luau. Mr. Aukai's spirit appeared before them because he wanted to teach them a lesson, where even the handsomest man is not worthwhile to have. A beautiful woman can go on with her own life without a man controlling her life.

Which in the end leaves me to say no matter if you are single,married or in between, the most important thing is to Love Yourself Always!