Claire lay still.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBLRQp7szJ
The same jazz song played again.
— She could now predict exactly which saxophone note would slip slightly off pitch.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVAPNfOKqgt
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ngtsgG9zV
The melody twisted like an overheating tape deck, spitting out scorched notes in her brain.
Why had she failed?31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡveXxZNiojq
Was it because she closed her eyes?
— Was it just a matter of seconds?31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqK6Im8EuBI
Or worse... did her awareness mean nothing at all?
She couldn’t help but ask herself:31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx929zrMX0x
If this world doesn’t wait for my will to move forward... what am I even fighting for?
No.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdLm5nqHV0
Tonight, she’d try again.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrUMBrBrLf
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4OSuc7mXz
Not now.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZrbANB9kV
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzGNkPXQpz
Her whole body felt clean.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zbe5xK2rP
Like someone had wiped her system while she slept.
Claire got up.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kdofkshvJ
Opened the café.
— She dressed. Went downstairs.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgPhsTgP6b
Started prepping bagels with muscle memory alone.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYA7ctzNZt
At least this kept her from thinking too much during the daylight hours.
Waiting for night again.
— Daytime was for pretending.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYM05zASyX
The illusion of normal would swallow her whole if she let it.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFpopMxONb
But her mind had already carved out space for the night. Reserved it.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjCzXZsMnK
A blackout room in the back of her thoughts.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOtw65xvrD
31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs82ZEzFPK7
Three days later, she woke to jazz again.
Same track.
Same key.
— The song had become a ritual.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOce2yKqMn
A key.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXB0WREu3m
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpScpJZvh0s
— Not midnight.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3y370KUrz
Not sunrise.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQ1pu8temX
Not the radio signal.
Her.
Her eyelids dropped—curtain down.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmZHtXryAy
The world rewound.
So if she didn’t sleep… she could reach tomorrow?
— The idea hit like a gas leak.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyeUeo12Pfc
Invisible. Intoxicating. Dangerous.
No sleep = escape?
What was the cost?31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vWs14rwga
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzJOEDuJI8
She set the pen down instead.
This wasn’t a joke.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3zLVi0P1v
But jokes were the only way she knew how to survive this.
No.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIydpbGJgvz
This wasn’t the solution.
The answer had to be closer.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfVs7V8sWQ
Not in her blood pressure.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1NGLJ9K3l
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uNhkHxqX3
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6N7f83Vsk2
No appointments in a world with no tomorrow.
— She almost laughed, imagining herself in a psych office:31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTSaKZtBxG
“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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojXaUp6gol
And even if someone did—they couldn’t help.
31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrDiTNwPAes
Claire’s head hung low.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXjXSREJH8
She stared at the bed sheets.
Hmm...
— That crease was in the same spot yesterday.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh0g9XZMsre
She never made her bed. Usually just kicked the covers to the side.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSxHG7HC63
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:31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLi12I4GErr
The protagonist picks up a glowing watch.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJGO9hnJYT
Or touches some cursed gemstone.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gbOY5Csor
Suddenly: time loop.
Claire had no watch.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQ9Na478ZB
No gems.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ClBELEpxf
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?31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz597QvwSJM
The ones she never touched?
She used to imagine they moved at night.
Later, she blamed it on her own overthinking.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFVMnegc2o
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJyrLpWdxz
She didn’t want the world suspecting anything.
Just like a researcher observing test subjects—31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡek5o8icPNJ
you don’t let them know they’re being watched.
7 p.m. came.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMRYskGMkO
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhI3lEynhE
This felt small.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVoRoZEQrcI
But also like it could shift the gravity of the whole universe.
She booked a cheap motel.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbg3pToVvTR
Didn’t care about the room.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5R9VIxaS4
Didn’t care about the bed.
This wasn’t about comfort.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMQ2en4H8v
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—31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlHAlbjKVA
Good.
Maybe something would finally change.
— A missing bag of flour would be worth celebrating.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2y43TW7TFl
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPp22O5itsi
and then Add to home screen.