Claire lay still.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWGIhVrOpc
The same jazz song played again.
— She could now predict exactly which saxophone note would slip slightly off pitch.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡABVtwxxcm1
She wasn’t even annoyed anymore. Just... hollow, like she wanted to roll her eyes at the ceiling without the energy to do it.
She was pretty sure she could sing the whole thing backwards.
— No joke. She actually tried humming it in reverse in her head.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAG6ziw9Mbt
The melody twisted like an overheating tape deck, spitting out scorched notes in her brain.
Why had she failed?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFfxDBSHPp
Was it because she closed her eyes?
— Was it just a matter of seconds?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡimufuYa5Rd
Or worse... did her awareness mean nothing at all?
She couldn’t help but ask herself:47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRJlpHV9b5
If this world doesn’t wait for my will to move forward... what am I even fighting for?
No.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1JqUbco7W
Tonight, she’d try again.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMDUYqnPZa
Another sleepless night.
— She bit down on the thought like it was a chunk of old coffee grounds—bitter, gritty, stubborn.
She wasn’t the type to give up.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡurtOADJTHa
Not now.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzJ7KxQPuNu
Not like this.
Even if there were no answers, she’d break this puzzle into pieces. Disassemble the trap.
She expected to be exhausted. But her body felt… reset.
— No dry eyes. No aching back. No trace of the five coffees she downed the night before.
That was the real freaky part.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EM0ad4kFx
Her whole body felt clean.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevotS6Yu5B
Like someone had wiped her system while she slept.
Claire got up.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZGXIdzq9L
Opened the café.
— She dressed. Went downstairs.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RFJrwhJWE
Started prepping bagels with muscle memory alone.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMikNBoP7K
At least this kept her from thinking too much during the daylight hours.
Waiting for night again.
— Daytime was for pretending.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlmd9z8eeE
The illusion of normal would swallow her whole if she let it.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAKRuXy4AW
But her mind had already carved out space for the night. Reserved it.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwQhxDVJjh
A blackout room in the back of her thoughts.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gOecPcHFr
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SMhtZt0t7
Three days later, she woke to jazz again.
Same track.
Same key.
— The song had become a ritual.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxumV6Dwd6
A key.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJu3p05TYAq
A trigger.
And this time, Claire finally let herself say it aloud:
She hadn’t failed.
The reset began with her.
When she closed her eyes, the world followed.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2G2vVEwUTm
— Not midnight.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGemq5wF7z
Not sunrise.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCdjBw9KeXQ
Not the radio signal.
Her.
Her eyelids dropped—curtain down.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVV2E7tV0s
The world rewound.
So if she didn’t sleep… she could reach tomorrow?
— The idea hit like a gas leak.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUID1ZvaHf
Invisible. Intoxicating. Dangerous.
No sleep = escape?
What was the cost?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHK1k4tsZ4
One night? Three? The last one?
Claire wasn’t sure if this was good news.
She wasn’t even sure which would come first: tomorrow… or her own collapse.
— She stared at the wall calendar, tempted to scribble “Don’t Die” across it.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGHUIGtsyJ
She set the pen down instead.
This wasn’t a joke.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujjj7Gzbna
But jokes were the only way she knew how to survive this.
No.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2LSz1C1xV
This wasn’t the solution.
The answer had to be closer.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvAFwNuf6Y
Not in her blood pressure.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzEIANE9EAq
Not in sleep deprivation.
There had to be a crack somewhere.
If not, she’d end up as a corpse that never closed its eyes.
Claire started wondering if time had left her behind.
Maybe everyone else had moved on.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3qIt0av5Ta
Maybe the world was now on episode 5… and she was stuck on a frozen frame of episode 2.
— Her name. Her face. Her breath—stuck in a day that no longer belonged to anyone else’s memory.
She told herself not to dwell.
There were no therapists for this kind of fear.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rtDRpyN41
No appointments in a world with no tomorrow.
— She almost laughed, imagining herself in a psych office:47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡycQBQrPTQ6
“Hi, I’m stuck reliving the same day, and by the way, Doc—you’ll forget I came in.”
She couldn’t even be bothered to write the script.
No one would believe her.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUojZRHaON
And even if someone did—they couldn’t help.
47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyqgzwcfmw
Claire’s head hung low.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZkLMyMNnKz
She stared at the bed sheets.
Hmm...
— That crease was in the same spot yesterday.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooX9l9cnuI
She never made her bed. Usually just kicked the covers to the side.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbeO6e8u28
But the folds… they always stayed the same.
Like someone had painted them on.
What if this was magical?
What if it wasn’t a cosmic glitch… but something in her space?
— Like those old movies:47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8W5B2eYHl
The protagonist picks up a glowing watch.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQKB6Fn2Be
Or touches some cursed gemstone.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlasrhdpXbO
Suddenly: time loop.
Claire had no watch.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBsQR1BrFwR
No gems.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvhmJ2BoxQ
Just a bed as stiff as a plastic cutting board.
Was it the bed?
— A magic bed that reset time when she laid down?
Or the room?
Or something in it?
— Her aunt’s things, maybe?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1T7756ZIA
The ones she never touched?
She used to imagine they moved at night.
Later, she blamed it on her own overthinking.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29aojiORMq
But now?
Even absurdity seemed worth testing.
A thought settled in.
She’d try again tonight.
But not here.
— The café still opened like usual.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxrWbqyJ1t
She didn’t want the world suspecting anything.
Just like a researcher observing test subjects—47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1CPveiBgLA
you don’t let them know they’re being watched.
7 p.m. came.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCI3gmxMRgZ
Claire locked up.
But this time, she was on the outside of the door.
— Her hand trembled—not from fear, but from the weight of it.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpz2VuRpoto
This felt small.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqftuqcw2iM
But also like it could shift the gravity of the whole universe.
She booked a cheap motel.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcx0paxsak
Didn’t care about the room.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgw5xzFal10
Didn’t care about the bed.
This wasn’t about comfort.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0LRJTJ8R9
It was about boundaries.
She double-checked the lock on her café.
Then scratched a mark into the doorknob with her nail.
Let’s see if that’s still there tomorrow.
If someone broke in—47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgWatlY8Yh
Good.
Maybe something would finally change.
— A missing bag of flour would be worth celebrating.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzR70K3FZuz
She’d pop champagne for a dent in the matrix.
Anything.
Any sign this world wasn’t a sealed glass maze, always snapping back into place like a puzzle that refused to stay broken.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIn7mGoaxh
