[ WP ] Since birth , you have always had a bad sense of direction that would defy the laws of logic and space . Instead of arriving at your destination , you would end up in places or areas impossible for normal people to get to .

I was watching a seal sunbathe from the other side of a plate-glass window when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned my head. It was Karen, with her long brown hair. She was dressed casually. 
 
 “ Oh hey. ” I said 
 
 She smiled, but the smile did n't extend to her eyes. “ Hey. ” 
 
 “ Uh… ” I tried to find something to say. This was awkward. 
 
 “ So about last night… ” 
 
 “ Uh, look, I'm sorry I did n't show up. ” 
 
 Her smile widened a little. It looked pained. “ No, that's alright. ” 
 
 “ It's just I could n't find the place. ” 
 
 “ You know what's funny? Janet found the place. Your sister found the place. Even Fred. Goddamn Fred. ” There was a tear streaming down her cheek. “ Look, if you do n't want to- ” 
 
 “ Woah, woah, hey! Hey, I have a terrible sense of direction, you know this- ” 
 
 She crossed her arms. A mother with her kids standing behind Karen was giving us a look while she ushered her kids away. “ Worse than Fred? I find that hard to believe. ” Her lip trembled a bit. “ You heard how he once got lost for an entire week when his mom sent him to get groceries. ” 
 
 “ That ’ s not because he has a bad sense of direction. I heard he was trying to run away. ” 
 
 She raised her eyebrow. “ That ’ s not what I heard. ” 
 
 “ Well, still, he ’ s a stoner. He probably just got high off his gourd or something. Whatever, the point is that, yes, I actually have a worse sense of direction than him. ” 
 
 “ Prove it. ” She wasn ’ t smiling anymore. 
 
 “ As a matter of fact, I can! ” I said as I took out my smartphone. “ Feast your eyes on this! ” 
 
 “ A… mountain? ” 
 
 “ Not just a mountain. Look at the date! ” 
 
 “ That ’ s yesterday. Is this your way of telling me you blew me off yesterday to go snowboarding? ” 
 
 “ Karen, we live in Kansas. ” 
 
 “ So what? You just took a flight to Colorado. ” 
 
 She would evidently need more convincing. I thumbed through my pictures. “ Alright, then, how about this! ” I shouted as I shoved my smartphone back in her face. 
 
 “ It ’ s… an engine or some kind? Why ’ d you take the photo with a blue filter, though? ” 
 
 “ Good question! First off, that ’ s not a blue filter, it ’ s what it actually looks like. And second, I ’ m 99 % sure that it ’ s a reactor or generator of some sort. ” 
 
 “ Like a nuclear reactor? You mean that blue glow is radiation… is this your way of telling me you have cancer now or something? ” 
 
 “ Probably! ” 
 
 “ That ’ s a fucked up attempt to make me feel sympathy for you, especially after what you did. ” 
 
 “ It would be if I was! Look at the date. ” 
 
 “ Yesterday again. Huh. I didn ’ t think they have nuclear reactors in Colorado. ” 
 
 “ I ’ m pretty sure they don ’ t. ” I started thumbing through my pictures again. “ Uh, give me a second to find another picture from yesterday. ” The screen lit up a bright red. “ Okay here ’ s one. ” 
 
 “ What am I looking at? ” 
 
 “ To tell you the truth, I ’ m not really sure. ” 
 
 She gave me a look. 
 
 “ I ’ d tell you if I could, but there wasn ’ t actually anyone I could ask about this one. If it helps, that right there is my hand. ” I said, pointing at something that bending around the outside of the image like smoke. “ I was holding it in front of the lens, or at least where the lens should ’ ve been at the time. I guess it didn ’ t come out that way. ” 
 
 She took a long, slow breath, closing her eyes and exhaling before slowly reaching up and picking the phone out of my hand. “ How many more photos do you have like this from yesterday? Just random shit like this… ” 
 
 “ I mean, a lot happened yesterday or else I still would ’ ve shown up. I would ’ ve been late, but I still would ’ ve shown up. So, I ’ m sorry. ” I scratched the back of my head. “ I guess. ” 
 
 “ Do you mind if I look through the rest of these? ” 
 
 “ Sure. ” 
 
 “ Are they all from yesterday? ” 
 
 “ No, some are from the day before. When you start seeing raptors, you ’ ve gone too far. ” She took another deep breath. “ Well, I got ta go to the bathroom. I ’ ll leave my phone with you so you can look through the photos while I ’ m in there. ” 
 
 “ Okay. ” 
 
 -- - 
 
 I had been walking far longer than I had ought to and I still hadn ’ t found the bathroom. I bumped up against something. Looking down, I stared into the eyes of a seal looking at me. The seal somehow seemed familiar. I looked around. To my left was a plate glass window. I could see Karen leaning against it on the far side, looking through the photos in my phone. The seal rolled back over, pointedly ignoring me. 
 
 “ Oh. ”
