Jane couldn’t sleep and it wasn’t the gentle snoring symphony being conduct by Fred and George that was keeping her awake. Her mind wouldn’t stop racing with the potential that was contained in the journals from Aunt Liza. It had been a month since the journals had been delivered and it had been a month of non-stop activity.
Fred had meant it when he said he wanted to expand the house to accommodate a larger office for Jane. In fact, the very next day Fred had been on the phone with contractors about the addition. It didn’t take long for the plans to be settled and the work to begin. Truth be told, Jane was still in awe at how quickly all of this had taken place.
Jane slipped from the bed without interrupting the symphony and made her way to the kitchen. Absent mindedly she set the kettle on to boil and found a tea bag. Waiting she let her mind wander.
The journals had been brought inside and carefully unpacked. Jane had been sure to document the particulars of each journal on an index card before moving on to the next journal. When she finished the documentation, she had her oldest son build her a database so that she could carefully catalog the journals. She still preferred the old fashioned index card system but knew there was value in having the information stored electronically.
Jane caught the kettle mere moments before it began to shrill and made herself a cup of tea. Carrying her mug, she carefully made her way into her office. What had been considered chaos before was now utter anarchy. There were stacks of journals from Aunt Liza balanced precariously on stacks of maps and books that had been there for years. Everything was covered with plastic tarps to prevent them from being covered in construction dust.
Jane sat down at her desk and placed her mug in it’s usual spot. There was no chance of writing in the clutter and disorganization Jane knew, but she could sit at the laptop and document ideas that were keeping her up. If she didn’t find an outlet for all of these ideas Jane knew she wouldn’t get a good nights sleep for another couple of weeks at least.
With this thought, Jane began to type. Her head bent over her laptop and the desk lamp illuminating only a small portion of the office. Jane was so engrossed in the laptop, she forgot about her tea and was oblivious to the passage of time.
Fred woke about 4 AM and immediately noticed that the sheets on Jane’s side of the bed were ice cold. Fred went in search of his wife, knowing full well where he would find her. Sure enough, there she was asleep at the keyboard, her fingers on the laptop. Fred hated to wake her, to disturb the creative process but he knew that unless he did so, she’d sleep like that for another couple of hours and then be useless tomorrow with a painful crick in her neck.
Waking his wife gently, Fred led Jane back upstairs to bed. Jane was protesting half-heartedly about how she was just resting her eyes and she had too much work to do to sleep. Fred agreed with her and tucked her into bed and Jane promptly fell into a deep sleep when her head hit the pillow. Fred smiled and relaxed as he crawled back into bed. His wife was so full of ideas that this was happening every night lately and he also knew the only “cure” was to get her new office completed sooner rather than later.
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