The Framingham Sheridan, made to look like a castle, (for some strange reason) and laced with snow, loomed over me, like Shirley Jackson’s Hill House when I pulled into the parking lot. But unlike Hill House, it’s a familiar and comfortable place to me. Jon and I spent more than a few nights there during his book tours over the years.
I got back to the hotel at 11pm. My brain fuzzy and my body exhausted. I had spent the past five hours driving back and forth to the Logan Express, taking the bus to the airport, checking in and going through security then finding out my flight was canceled, due to mechanical problems. I guess because of the snow storm I anticipated the possibility of a cancellation and wasn’t that surprised.
Luckily, even though I had checked out of the hotel, I was still able to get back into my room. I didn’t intend to spend the night in the hotel. I got the room to have someplace to spend the day. I left home early that morning to avoid driving in the snow storm, and once in Framingham had about 10 hours before my flight that night.
It turns out, my getting the hotel room was a better decision than I thought, because the hotels around the airport were all booked by the time my flight was cancelled. Now I was able to get a good nights sleep before getting the rescheduled flight to Dubai the next day.
With all the trials of the day, (or as I choose to see it, initiation rituals) every problem seemed to be balanced with some luck on my part or an act of kindness towards me by someone else.
The most tense moments were driving to the Logan Express that evening. It was still snowing hard and the roads weren’t clear, making for some white knuckle driving. Then, when I was leaving the garage and took too long getting a protein bar, my dinner, from my bag the gate closed so I couldn’t get out. It didn’t take long for someone to come when I press the button for help, but by that time I was hungry and tired and just worn out.
Because of cell phones, Jon and I were in touch throughout the day, so I never felt really alone.
But that night I had two dreams.
In one, I woke up in the hotel room and someone was lying next to me holding my hand. It was just like the scene in The Haunting Of Hill House, where Eleanor thinks she’s holding Theo’s hand, but when the light comes back on, sees that Theo is on the other side of the room. My dream was almost as spooky and when I woke up I wasn’t so sure it was just a dream.
But when I told Jon about it this morning, he immediately said it sounded like whoever was holding my hand was trying to comfort me. That it sounded more like a spirit guide than a ghost.
I like that, it was kind of like how my day had been. Not getting upset about what seems at the time to be a bad thing. Turning it around, so it works out, even if it’s not exactly what I would have chosen.