Escape from Sanity

Sometimes life throws you a few curves.  Even in just a day! We all have our way of escaping.  Some people have a glass of wine with dinner, some listen to music, some exercise, and I like to go to Barnes and Noble and skim through books.  I find that the books in the children's area make me smile and remember when life was so simple.  I love the brightly colored scribbled cartoons and the pages with swatches of texture, feeling the patch of soft velvet.  It reminds me of my childhood, spending hours engrossed in a book, dead to the world.

Strolling through the "Marketing" section I decided to gain some insight and picked up a few books.  I made my way over to a few wooden chairs in the corner.  I hunkered down for reading.  A book about marketing to women was fascinating, I was so enthralled I almost didn't notice a "gentleman" sit next to me.  He squirmed to get comfortable and let a little gas slip out.  I glanced at him through the corner of my eye.  He didn't seem phased.  It was an accident, it happens.  I continued to read and he decided to unleash.  Now I did the full head turn combined with a steady dirty look.  He still didn't seem to be concerned.  That was enough.

I escaped to another area and walked through the "Self Improvement" section.  I noticed a woman whose face was all flushed from crying.  Then I realized it was my friend "Christie" that I had met through other friends in Vegas. I vividly remember her coming back to the hotel room with blood gushing from her forehead.  She mumbled that she had been hit in the head with a Police baton, but didn't explain as to why.

I was startled seeing someone I knew in my area of town.  It was an unexpected surprise.  I asked what was wrong.  She hesitated and then decided to mentally "unleash".

She revealed that she was living in the Psych unit and decided to walk out.   She walked a few blocks to this Barnes and Noble.  She told me that she was raped.  Then she told me she had a miscarriage.  Then she told me that she had driven to a Buddhist monk temple in Los Angeles. Then drove back to live in the Psych unit.  Her story had so many twists and turns I was lost.

I figured she had been through so much in life and mistreated by men that she didn't know what reality was anymore.  I bought her a hot chocolate and convinced her to go back and continue getting help.

I put her in my car and drove her back.

As I watched her walk into the Psych building, she quickly ran back to my open car window and made me promise to come and play dodge ball with her and the other group in the ward.  I agreed, picturing myself running around getting nailed with a large rubber ball.  She happily skipped back into the building.

Christie literally needed an escape that day and found a few hours of peace at Barnes and Noble, a friend and a cup of hot coco.