The Art of Wayfinding

A Real Wake Up

Wake ups are usually rough for both parties. Party One, is the one given the power to wake Party Two. At times, the one who wakes people, must be gentle but firm,  other times, it requires a bit more aggression, and even at points, an unacceptable level of noise. There are plenty of people who have worked at the front desk of any hotel who have loads of stories about just how much this common place task can easily bring stress to a morning workday.  It all falls on how easy Party Two responds to being awoken. Ten months, thirteen days, and some wayward hours ago, Jeanie MacKenzie had lived her life as an incredibly hard sleeper.  That day, ten months prior, everything had changed for her, including her sleeping pattern, which was now, erratic and miserable at best. Sometimes Jeanie wished she could go back to the days of oblivion, but that memory of Jacob, her now ex-boyfriend's voice, would rattle her right back into reality.
"How can you sleep with that?" She had overheard from the hallway that evening, still blurry with sleep. There was no mistaking the clarity of Jacob's voice, "Honestly, sometimes I have to close my eyes and pretend she's pretty," there was a cacophony of voices from the peanut gallery of football players listening in the living room.  "I know that Jeanie is pretty repulsive, but, if I pretend she's someone else, it's not that bad. She does give me stuff, and doesn't expect much back. Want her?" he laughed.  There was more forced laughter in return, and several cans crinkled in unison before they were thrown into a corner trash bin.
Jeanie covered her mouth and leaned gently against the hallway wall. She might be sick. She had been rudely awakened and was now suffering a terrible shock.
Without delay, she went back to the bedroom, gathered her belongings, and slipped out the back doorwall. She was numb, and fumbling to hang on to her senses. There wasn't a moment she could remember that Jacob Randall Reed didn't play a major or minor part.. What was the truth, and did it honestly matter? As many times as she had heard him say I love you, it was now tainted by the words he had intimated when he thought she wasn't within earshot. That's when she decided to purchase her ticket to Incheon Airport, South Korea. It took her every bit of the ten months to save and plan for the move. She also used the time to pull her self esteem out of the gutter. Jeanie had watched and read motivational speakers until she could look at herself in a mirror without turning away. She attempted to center herself with the help of a Shaolin monk who created YouTube videos in his spare time. She spoke with her doctor, who, empathetically, had said that Jacob sounded like an asshole, and ordered a prescription for Calcium to calm her. She started walking five miles a day. She made sure she showered, changed her clothes, and brushed her teeth. Jeanie waited until she could see that she was drawing the attention of attractive men. As much as she wanted to admit that being attractive to others didn't matter. She realized that it seemed to matter quite a bit to people, especially with online personas growing more and more superficially pretty and filtered to the point of fiction.
Jeanie avoided Jacob at all costs. If the two families gathered, she made sure she left an hour before they arrived and an hour after they departed. She blocked him on all SMS and obviously on her phone. At first, it was unbearably hard. Every time she faltered, she would remind herself that although Jacob had felt so much like her tether to the world, he was actually a rotten and broken cord.
As Jeanie carefully packed and shipped box after box of her belongings, the move became more real and a bit more exciting and scary. Her moments were filled with questions about what to give away, what to toss, and what was coming with her. No memories of Jacob. They were staying with her worn quilt, the hoodies she refused to return to him, and her collection of children's fantasy classics. She wished she had the power to magic him away until she had completely released him from her heart..but life lessons so far had been the hardest lessons. In two weeks, she would be leaving. She didn't need to worry about what Jacob was doing after she left.
Maybe keeping busy is the answer to most psychological and even physical ailments aquired by humans. Jeanie really had no time to spare on missing her ex-boyfriend, what's-his-name. Everything was weighed and ready to go at the door. The Lyft had been ordered. Her papers and passport were all in order. It was finally time to relax.
The door bell rang with a loud buzz at the tail which either meant the person waiting had an excessively heavy hand, or just lacked patience. Jeanie opened the door. "Anyeong!"