Listen to Your Body
Magic Works in Mysterious Ways - Career Plans With a Sandwich
Adam wanted to plan his visit to Bucharest, the thought of it gave him a form of anxiety he had never before experienced. He was afraid to even call his wife, let alone spend time with her and their son. He had been going from trance to trance for nearly a month now. Could he even participate in an adult conversation for more than 15 minutes?
He stood looking daunted at his phone, his heartbeat all the way up to his eardrums. For a moment, thinking he would be stuck in front of it forever.
“A walk will help, I have mission that will help you put your plans together.“
He decided to humor Jasmine, maybe it would get him unstuck.
As he got up, Jasmine had one more thing to say.
“Ask your Mom to sign the notepad’s first page, it will help us keep it private. She can write anything.“
As if prompted, his Mom entered the room just then.
”Need anything?”
”Uhm, you caught me off guard… I actually do, it’s a little odd, but I would like you to write something on the first page of this notepad, anything that comes to mind.”
She didn’t even bother asking why, she simply started laughing.
”Sure.” His mother said as she paused for a few seconds thinking of something to write.
A quick scribble later.
”Here it is.” She presented it proudly.
Looking at the notepad Adam checked the new label.
“A new world.“, he smiled at the choice of words, and puzzled observed she had placed a dot at the end, and that the dot was in fact a large circle.
There was no time to debate the choice of words or punctuation.
”I hope it serves you well., but now I have something else I need to do.” His mother broke the silence, as she quickly took her leave.
“Fantastic“, Jasmine claimed after Adam waved goodbye to his Mom.
”All you need to do now is take an intuitive walk and write down letters that catch your eye. Remember to check TikTok before you leave.”
When checking his phone, he once again found Sarah, pulling cards, and offering advice. He only really heard one sentance.
“Listen to your body, it already has the answers you need.“
The moment Adam walked out the door his thoughts on the coming trip subsided. The music kicked in and walking he became more and more relaxed. His eyes started to notice the number of plates of the cars passing by. After a few of them drove by, he noticed one with the letters “JAS“.
Jasmine appeared right over his left shoulder lying down on a cauch.
“You should start writing these down Adam, they’re going to help later today.“
As soon as she was done talking his left lip quirked upwards, a confirmation and with that she was gone for the moment.
Adam pulled out his notepad, and as he walked, he began to write down all the carplate numbers that caught his eyes. He didn’t write everything down, but a carefull selection, somehow picked by his feet, eyes and attention.
Some cars would whisk by without him even noticing them. Some were parked, some were moving. If they weren’t meant to be, he forgot them before his pencil reached the page.
The quirk in his lip would confirm if anything should go in or not, and would let him know when to start a new sequence.
His little notepad had quickly gained a good 2 pages of seemingly random letters in it.
“The rest we can figure out at home.“
Making his way back, Adam started noticing advertisements. A casino showed him a table full of gold. Then a “Help Wanted” sign caught his eye from the door of the sandwich.
Walking, he could feel his gut stirring and another realisation came up from within, so strong it felt like thunder.
“Your job.“
From that point on, each step on his way back home seemed to have something to say.
”You have to take care of your finances and employment situation.”
Not for a moment wondering who it was that he’s speaking to, he just continued his walk.
”I suppose you’re right, my medical leave is ending, but how am I going to manage this… I’m barely functional. Even writing in this damned notepad tripped me out. My job is genuinely hard. How am I supposed to perform it this way.”
”You got this, everyone is a crapy employee at some point in their life.”
”Considering how I left, I might end up in the hospital if I speak to the wrong doctor. The last one I spoke to seemed possesed. I can’t risk it…”
Both Adam and his feet were silent as he took a moment on a little bench on the main boulevard in the city. He had a sandwitch he had bought from the store with him. When he started chewing, it sounded as though his teeth started speaking to him, like someone speaking with their mouth full.
“If you just tell them you have a health issue and are going through a divorce they will understand. That’s what I think.“
Not even realising he was talking to his own teeth, when he finished chewing he continued the thought.
“I can’t simply expect them to keep me there out of the goodness of their heart, their patience would probably wear thin after a week or two. On the other hand it’s pretty hard to fire someone from one of these companies. Not showing up to work for 5 days without a good explanation is actually enough reason.“
Another bite.
”Cover your legal basis, try to lie low and still justify being there., at least for a while.”
Already looking puzzled at his sandwitch, Adam again continued the thought.
“Hmm… I guess I could just tell them about the divorce and seek part-time employment surely that’s something I can do. At least until I regain some control or find some better way to make a living. With so much magic in the air maybe I can shake my card and the balance goes up in my accounts.“
Laughing at his own joke, with an odd feeling that someone else was there, he finally asked.
“Who are you?“
No answer.
Looking at the sandwich, it had nothing to say.
Taking a small bite, the voice came back, still sounding like a full mouth.
“I’m the voice of your body for today, don’t think too much about it. Anyway, Coming to what you were saying. I think it sounds legit.
Write that in your notepad, first thing when you get back, contact HR and tell them you’re going through a divorce. Then swap to part time employment for a few months.“
He teared up after one.
”I’m so fucked… All I have left is a suitcase, if I give up half my income what will I do…”
After a brief pause of gloom and doom, Adam Breathed in a few times, and regained his composure.
”I can do it, surely I’m not the only one that’s ever had such a problem. I have to talk to my parents so that they won’t be worried as well. If I think about it now, nobody talks to the partial employment guy anyway, so I’ll most likely be able to coast it off without making too much of a fool of myself.”
With the comfort of at least having the begining of a plan, on his way back home, Adam was looking at his steps for an answer.
“Do you think three months is enough?“
”It’s enough and that’s a promise.”, his steps answered back with a confidence he thought long gone.
”When people say listen to your body, this really isn’t what I would have imagined.”
”But how would you know?”