She had walked these same halls before, sat at this same
desk in this same office under these same blinding fluorescent lights, but
today was not the same as any of those days before. Today was different—not just because it was a
new month and a new year—no, today she was a new person.
Nobody had noticed anything yet. As she walked through the office building,
got her coffee in the break room, everyone nodded their usual hellos and good
mornings, but they were too preoccupied with their own small lives to notice
even such a drastic change in hers.
Rather than make her feel insignificant, though, it made her feel
strong. She could fool everyone; they
would never know until it was too late—if they noticed at all.
She sat at her desk in front of her computer, cup of coffee
in hand, just like she had every other morning.
But she didn’t check her email.
She didn’t browse the day’s top news stories. She simply sat. And thought.
The world was still the same—still spinning on the same
axis, still orbiting the same sun. The
people were still the same—still hurrying on the sidewalks below, still yelling
insults into their cell phones. So why
was she different? What had
changed? She had to admit she liked the
change—it made her feel powerful, secure—but she didn’t understand it.
She had the vaguest notion of something strange happening as
she slept, but she couldn’t be sure. Had
someone entered her house while she slumbered?
Had an intruder somehow done this?
She had no way of knowing. She’d
thought to get an alarm system when she first moved to the end of the lonely
street, but things always came up and the money was never there.
She had no nearby neighbors to notice if someone strange had
been lurking on the street. And of
course she lived alone. It had never
bothered her until now. Of course, bothered wasn’t really the right
word. Wasn’t she happy about this change? Wasn’t she glad it had happened—however it
happened?
Yes. She was
happy. She needed this. She stopped asking questions and simply
accepted it. Whatever it was, it was
going to change everything.
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