Chapter 1 - The Call
He woke up with a start, his heart pounding, his breath still shallow as he tried to pull himself out of the remnants of a dream. His mind was foggy, disoriented, but the unsettling feeling wouldn’t leave him. There was something vaguely familiar about the room, the stillness of the morning, as though he had been in this exact situation before.
The clock beside his bed read 8:47 AM.
It was the same time as the day before—or was it? He couldn’t remember. The memories were slipping through his fingers, like trying to hold water in his hands. He tried to shake off the heavy sense of déjà vu, the nagging feeling that he had already experienced this exact moment. The same time. The same morning.
He rubbed his eyes and stared at the ceiling, trying to clear his head. Maybe it was just a bad dream, he thought. Maybe it was just the remnants of something he couldn’t quite grasp. He had felt so alive, so real, in that dream—her smile, her voice, the warmth of her presence. But now that he was awake, it felt like it had all been a figment of his imagination.
He stood up slowly, his legs unsteady, and went through the motions of his morning routine. Everything was normal. His apartment, the kitchen, the coffee mug he left on the counter the night before. It was all the same. Nothing had changed. Yet there was a part of him that couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
His phone buzzed on the counter, snapping him out of his thoughts. He hesitated for a moment before reaching for it. When he saw the name on the screen, a strange weight settled in his chest. Her name.
It felt like a moment of clarity amidst the confusion.
“Hey, good morning! Want to meet at the café later? I found a new place. I think you’ll love it.”
Her voice, soft and comforting, cut through the haze. He could hear the smile in her words, and for a brief moment, the world felt right again. Her voice was like a tether to reality, grounding him in something solid.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll meet you there,” he replied, his voice almost shaky. He hadn’t realized how much he needed to hear from her until now.
After hanging up, he stood there for a moment, his hand still holding the phone. He looked at it for a while, not entirely sure why he felt so unsettled. It wasn’t just the call. It was the entire morning. The strange sensation that it all felt so… familiar.
But he shook it off. It was just a dream, wasn’t it? A strange, vivid dream that lingered even after he had woken up. He had to focus. He had to meet her.
He went through the motions of getting ready, almost mechanically. The shower, the clothes, the coffee—everything felt distant, like he was running on autopilot. He stepped out of his apartment and into the cool morning air, but the streets didn’t feel quite right.
As he walked to the café, a thought kept circling in his mind. Hadn’t he already done this before? He passed the same corner, saw the same people walking by, the same familiar shops. But today, it felt different. The world was there, but it seemed somehow out of focus, like he was moving through it without really being a part of it.
He arrived at the café and paused outside, looking through the glass. She was already there, seated at a table near the back, a book in front of her. When she saw him, her face lit up, and she waved. It was the same smile, the same warmth, the same way she always looked at him.
He smiled back, though it felt strained, as if his body was doing something automatic. He walked in, and she greeted him with the same enthusiasm she always had.
“Hey!” she said, setting her book down. “I’m so glad you could make it. The coffee here is amazing. You’re going to love it.”
He sat down across from her, the familiar sound of her voice easing his nerves a little. But still, something nagged at him. The conversation felt like something he had experienced before, as if it was a loop, a ritual he had performed countless times.
“Yeah, it’s nice here,” he replied, trying to focus on her words.
She smiled, clearly excited to share this new place with him. He tried to listen, to engage, but it was as though the whole moment was too perfect, too scripted. Had they already been here? Had they already had this conversation? The question repeated in his mind, but he couldn’t make sense of it.
“Are you okay?” she asked suddenly, her expression softening as she studied him. “You seem a little out of it. Something wrong?”
His breath caught in his throat. She was looking at him with such concern, as though everything was normal, but to him, nothing felt normal.
“I’m fine,” he managed to say, forcing a smile. “Just a bit tired, that’s all.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” she replied. “I missed you.”
For a moment, he stared at her, caught off guard by her words. He didn’t know why, but he felt like he had already heard her say them before. In that dream, maybe? It didn’t matter. She was here. She was alive. And he was with her.
He tried to push away the confusion, the nagging feeling that this was all some kind of illusion, some strange echo of reality. He wanted to believe it was real. That this was his life. But something in the back of his mind wouldn’t let him.
Everything felt too familiar.
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End of Chapter 1
