Route 80 and the astonishing strength siphon

2:55am Five minutes before my alarm was set to go off, I woke up and looked out the window. There she sat, polished, vacuumed, newly tired and oil changed... ready for the ultimate adventure of her fifteen years. I slipped out of bed and headed down the stairs. The light was on in the living room and when I peeked in, there was Will, sitting on the couch with laptop in lap. He had never gone to bed, and he smiled up at me with youthful enthusiasm.

Quick showers, a press of coffee, and strategically placing the necessary supplies in the car took less than 30 minutes. We packed the bags of clothes in the back, jewelry in the middle and most importantly, the food within arms length of the driver. I had asked Will to be responsible for one thing, other than his personal effects; the water filter system. Cruising down Route 80, right around Du Bois I realized we had no water filter system.

And right after that I was keenly aware that I was falling asleep. It didn’t take much to figure out why. Sitting next to me was my real life dementor. Will, in all his passed out glory, was zapping all my strength. There was no doubt that it was he. At first I did (with much disgust) the Atlanta Brave’s Tomahawk Chop, literally severing the ethereal cord by which he was draining my power. That worked for a few minutes but as his head flopped over in my direction, I knew I was a sitting duck. Quick, I reached back for my camera, fumbled a bit, and then shot him. The results were immediate, but not long lasting. I finally woke him up and asked him to crack open a hard boiled egg for me.

I will tell you that I recognized the energy sucking because it happened to me when I would visit my brother Joel. A drunk driver had hit Joel’s car when he was 24. There was injury to his brain and he was in a vegetative state for 16 years. He died the day before he turned 40.

There was a span of time I would visit him at the Veteran’s Hospital in Philadelphia. I intentionally went to sleep early the night before, so I could get up before classes to visit him. Then during the drive home, I was acutely aware of how utterly exhausted I was after a short 30 minute visit. Instead of going to my classes, I had no choice but to go home and go to bed, I was absolutely drained, unlike any fatigue I had ever felt before.
And that is how I was feeling this morning.

The good news is, chocolate is an effective first aid to mild cases of contact with dementors. Wouldn’t you know it, within arms reach of the driver was a bunch of chocolate covered almonds.

From Chicago, on an air mattress, with love, Amy.