Ascension Part VI: Obstacles

 

Myra waited exactly twenty minutes. She walked to the window and looked outside. A light showed across the patio, disappearing along the beach. She watched as a light came on in the kitchen of the guest house and extinguished a few minutes later. Lights came on upstairs. Wyatt was doing his online chatting from his bedroom tonight. He was probably going to bed after his call ended. Wyatt seemed to tire more easily lately. The sleep would be good for him.She opened the homemade smoothie Wyatt recommended she taste and waited.

As anticipated, Wyatt’s bedroom light went out twenty minutes later. Myra waited and watched a bit longer, she wanted to be sure he had retired for the night before she risked turning on anything in the main house. The only way any of this was going to work was if Wyatt knew nothing about her plans.

Using the flashlight app on her phone Myra lowered the lamp from her nightstand to the floor before turning it on. She peeked through her blinds one more time to make sure nothing had changed at Wyatt’s. The lights were still out. The coast was clear.

Myra needed to get more information about what was happening in the world outside. Her days of living in the dark were coming to a close. They needed to end soon. If only she could get into the media room...without the password it was not an option. Getting a look around the guest house wasn't a possibility either.

Myra sat down on her bed, fluffed some pillows and leaned back against them. She thought about what she knew about her PA. What might lead her to the information she sought.

Wyatt is smart, kind, loyal, a morning person (which can be annoying at times), organized and forgetful. Forgetful...he is forgetful.

“He used annoy the crap out of me with all his sticky notes.” She thought back to earlier days, the first major film he assisted her through. Wyatt had only been working for her a couple of weeks. She stepped into her trailer to get changed at the end of a long and difficult day to find sticky notes around the entire perimeter of the bathroom mirror. In the center of the mirror was a birthday reminder for her sister. Myra recalled pointing out that she was not a stereotypical dumb blonde, she was an actress who rarely forgot her lines, there was no reason for him to be concerned she would forget her only sister’s birthday without the aid of a sticky note in front of her face.

The look on Wyatt’s face. It was at that moment he confessed he was forgetful at times, usually when stressed or nervous. He said working for her was a dream come true and confided he had been using all the sticky notes because he did not want to forget anything important, but everything seemed to be so important he seemed to be writing sticky notes all the time. She and Wyatt sat down together that evening and worked out a list of the types of things he should keep close track on and what type of things could fall through the cracks from time to time without being a complete tragedy.

Wyatt learned how to hide his sticky notes and adopted other techniques for remembering important information. As they got to know each other he learned how Myra did things and began anticipating her needs. He was the best PA she ever had as well as a good friend.

“I have to figure out where he’s been hiding his reminders.” Myra picked up her phone and opened a note taking app. “No not on the phone. Wyatt monitors my phone.” She pulled a notebook out of her nightstand. “A notebook is a bad idea too. He might search them if he thought he needed to. What about...” She slid from the side of her bed down to the floor. Myra reached out for her phone and pulled up the flashlight app. Using the light coming from the phone to look under the bed, she reached out and carefully pulled out an “under the bed” storage box. “Bingo.” She whispered. “I was hoping the last decorator hadn’t noticed you.” She lifted the lid and opened the container. Inside she found photo albums, one of her college yearbooks, copies of her first head shot, clips of her first reviews and planners. Each year had its own planner, full of the details of everything that needed to be done to keep an acting career moving. Her life...before Wyatt. She opened one, reading the entries, realizing how much simpler her life had become since Wyatt had entered it.

“You’ve always been there for me Wy.” She said, caressing the cover.

Myra put everything not needed away and settled herself back on the bed to brainstorm. She needed to compile a list of the places Wyatt was most likely to hide his reminders. She put her lamp back on the nightstand and got to work. Within a few minutes she had the possibilities narrowed down.

Attic

Garage

Pool House (not likely, he might have put a note there when pressed for time)

Spare Bedrooms

The storage room for the video and sound equipment.

Kitchen

Satisfied with her list, she hid the planner in her dresser underneath her heavy winter gloves and scarves, along with other items she only used when traveling.

“Where do I begin?” She asked. Her eyes traveled to the ceiling. “Okay, I’ll start at the top and work my way down.”

Myra yawned as she put on jeans and a long sleeved shirt. Attics were usually dusty. There might be spiders or something. Is five years long enough for spiders to move in? The yawning continued as she searched out the big flashlight Wyatt insisted she keep in the depths of her walk in closet for emergencies. What good a flashlight does hidden in the darkest corners of closet does she'd never understand. “Men.” She muttered under her breath. “I’m going to search the attic after I sit down for a minute.” She said, sticking the flashlight under the bed as she sat down. A wave of drowsiness hit her. She laid down, “Maybe if I lay down.” She had the urge to close her eyes, fighting it, she looked at the clock, it was only ten. She continued looking around the room her eyes stopping at her nearly empty smoothie bottle.

Myra whispered, “Wy?” The urge to sleep won the battle for control, pulling her into the depths of a dreamless slumber.

The bedroom shone bright with sunlight when Wyatt finally opened his eyes. With his headache gone he slept longer and more deeply then he had in weeks. Wyatt moved slowly, feeling no aches or pains, he climbed out of bed and crossed the room to the window. He needed to check on the main house. Myra’s blinds were closed, she was still in bed. He looked at the clock, 8:45—not too late. He would let Myra sleep until ten. They could follow the late morning schedule.

Wyatt went into the bathroom to take stock of what he had done the night before. He looked into the mirror as a space alien looked back at him. He did not know how to react, Wyatt liked to think of himself as a problem solver, finding comfort in resolving problems when they sprung up in life, he stared, taking in all the details, all of the changes. His head was a different shape. It appeared to have elongated. Most of the hair on his head was now gone. A single clump remained, standing stubbornly on top. Wyatt looked at his new oculus. It was the same shape as the other two, same color. It didn’t change focus as he leaned in to the mirror or backed away from it. He had a third eye but it didn’t seem to be doing anything.

What does the eye do? How do I make it work?

Wyatt closed the other two eyes. He waited several minutes, thinking if the third eye’s purpose was sight, he had just given it a good reason to begin working. Nothing happened.

“Experiment Two.” He said. Wyatt returned to his bedroom for an oversized bandanna. Folding it carefully he covered both eyes with the bandanna and secured it, tying both ends together behind his head. Wyatt waited for several minutes, once again nothing happened. He removed the bandanna. “I contracted the GRMN2 virus, managed to avoid spreading it to others, and recovered only to lose most of my hair, and grow a third eye which appears to do nothing. This is awkward.” He leaned in and studied it in the mirror. Wyatt looked into the third eye deeply. “An eye isn’t something which can be hidden easily with make-up either. What are you going to do Wyatt? What are you going to do?”