Welcome to Gaia! ::

Jacob sighed heavily as he peeled off his shoes. After depositing them neatly under the bed, he stretched and looked around the bare little room. He'd have to start packing soon if he wanted any sleep before his early-morning flight the next day. With that unhappy event recalled into his brain he groaned and fell onto the bed. He only had to go on an out-of-town trip once or twice a year to appease his family, but every time it was a consistent nightmare. There was always smiling and shaking of hands and always some relative tittering about his choice of career or how he never came to visit. He'd rather eat his toenails than go to that. At least they grew back, and with utmost speed in his case. Sanity was always much more difficult to retrieve.

After a minute or two of listening to the birds sing and the wind blow and the obnoxious sound of his neighbor's pumping music he dragged himself up and pulled out his dusty, tattered suitcase. Staring at it discontentedly, he decided it could always wait. Instead he pulled out his shoes and decided to go for a walk.