The Demon Called "Introspection"

There's a book out there somewhere called "The Lesser Key of Solomon", which supposedly contains instructions for summoning any of the 72 demons of hell to do one's bidding. Among them:

• Agares, who can make runaways come back, cause earthquakes, and teaches languages
• Vassago, who can discover hidden and lost things
• Furfur, who can cause love between a man and a woman

In true demonic fashion, I'm sure that there's some unintended consequence to using their services that wreaks terrible chaos on the summoner.

In my experience, there's a 73rd demon out there who tends to go unnoticed, and I sometimes feel that I'd rather face all 72 others simultaneously than this one alone. I speak of the demon known as "Introspection", who appears unsummoned and unwanted.

His power is to make long journeys quiet and uneventful. No turbulence. No jammed landing gear. No gremlin on the wing. Peace and quiet leaves no outward commotion to grab the traveler's attention. This forces the traveler to direct his attention inward. And when said traveler is moving across long distances around the holidays, it can lead toward introspection and the consideration of one's current circumstances. Where do I stand with the people I am now leaving? With the ones I am going to? What on earth am I going to do about so-and-so? And the dreaded "What am I doing?" (or even worse "What am I doing with my life?").

I hate asking these questions. I hate trying to figure out the answers, if there even are any. I can fall asleep on a plane pretty easily. This past trip he managed to make sure I got a good (and I mean really good) night's sleep beforehand so I wouldn't be too tired to think. He's a tricky devil, I have to admit.