Daphne’s alarm blared. She winced at the racket, peeling one of her eyes open and cringing at the sun streaming into the room. She grabbed her cell phone and performed the snooze motion, one she had performed nearly every day, and closed her eyes again.


    The memory of the headlights and the pressure of the truck crushing her legs flashed through her mind, and she saw the woman’s smile in the darkness of her closed lids.


    Daphne bolted straight up in bed; her eyes open wide despite the sun streaming into her apartment bedroom window.


    What…? She wondered, looking around the room. Tanpopo was curled up into a little poofy pool of black at the foot of her bed. The furniture and layout of the room were exactly as she remembered.


    Gingerly, she curled her toes on her right foot and then her left. I can feel my legs, she thought. I can even move my legs…


    She looked around the room again, looking for anything to give her a hint as to why she could feel her legs still. But there was nothing. She was not in a hospital. There was no wheelchair or crutches, and there was nothing that was the least interpretable as “medical” in her bedroom at all.


    Didn’t I die? She wondered. Her alarm started blaring again, and rather than snoozing the alarm, she turned it off, and noticed that her phone said it was Monday.


    What the fuck? She thought. Am I actually in hell?


    She ran her hand through her hair, feeling her fingers snag on a handful of tangles. The fuck did I do to deserve to go to hell? She thought. Last I checked I wasn’t nearly as bad as other people in this world. She shook her head, and bit her lip. It’s got to be hell, she thought. Why else would I have to go back to work with no weekend?


    She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, rubbing her dominant hand on her forehead. Tanpopo sat up and looked at her. She stared back at him as he licked his lips and yawned widely. “If this is hell, why are you here?” she asked him. He blinked his yellowish green eyes at her in response before jumping off the bed and performing a big stretch.


    He’s so…real… she thought.


    Tanpopo turned and looked at her, licking his lips again. “What?” she asked him. He swallowed and she stood up, causing him to mewl at her, and twirl his tail around one of her legs.


    I can stand, too, Daphne thought. What is going on?


    She clicked on the lock button on her phone. It was six thirty am. Something else caught her eye this time. It was the date.


    Daphne’s jaw dropped. “How is this possible?” she nearly shouted. She took several giant steps across the room and opened the curtains to her balcony. The trees still had leaves on them, and the gentle morning sun was bathing everything in a golden light.


    It was September 26^th.


    Christmas was supposed to be tomorrow, she thought, furrowing her eyebrows. She checked her phone again, wondering if maybe she had been asleep for nine months. It was still the same year, just earlier.


    Was it some kind of prophetic dream? She wondered. She looked in her full-length mirror. There was no scarring on her legs or stomach that suggested she had been in an accident. There were no new tattoos or marks on her body that hadn’t existed prior to the accident.


    She thought back to the days leading up to the accident. Her memories were still intact.


    This has got to be hell, she thought as she felt her cellphone vibrate. It was a reminder to try to get to work early so that she could get some extra work completed.


    She sighed and tossed her cellphone onto her bed. Tanpopo mewed at her again, spinning in a circle and asking for food.


    I guess I just need to go to work while I figure out what the hell is going on, she thought, grabbing clothes that a past version of herself had laid out for her. She deposited them into the bathroom on her way to the kitchen. Tanpopo followed her, nearly tripping her a couple of times, meowing at her in excitement for his upcoming meal.


    “Stop,” she grumbled at him, as she took a quick peek into the coffee maker. Just like every other workday, she had pre-prepped her coffee so that she could just smash the brew button.


    The grounds lid slammed shut, hitting brew, and she picked up Tanpopo’s bowl from the center of the kitchen. She quickly washed it, realizing that she was already running about ten minutes behind from having spent the time trying to figure out what was going on. She grabbed a fresh can of cat food, cut the pate in half, and began chopping up the food for Tanpopo. He was standing right in front of her, hindering her chopping ability, mewling loudly, his voice going higher pitched with excitement.


    She placed the food bowl on the ground, and Tanpopo started mowing down immediately. I need to hustle, Daphne thought as she put the half can of leftovers into her fridge.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    The coffee maker slurped loudly, pulling water through the grounds. Daphne turned away and went back to the bathroom to hop in the shower.


    I gotta be quick, she thought. No time for dilly dallying today.


    As she showered, she tried not to let her mind wander too much. Considering the circumstances, that was a challenge, in and of itself.


    After toweling off, she got dressed and walked back into her kitchen. Tanpopo was happily licking himself in his gray hammock bed. She paused for a moment and smiled at him.


    Even though I wish it was a weekend, and I don’t know what the hell is going on, I’m so glad to see this cat again, she thought. I didn’t spend enough time with him in the past.


    Glancing over at the clock, she noticed that she had about twenty minutes before she needed to leave. She pulled together a quick bowl of cereal, and poured herself a cup of coffee with an extra splash of creamer than what she usually did.


    Since I don’t know how long this hell is going to last, I might as well enjoy it, she thought, placing her coffee and cereal on her kitchen table. She walked quickly back to her room, grabbing her favorite pair of flats and her cell phone off of her bed. She walked back to the kitchen, throwing the flats onto the floor and then stepping into them. She sat down and devoured her cereal, sipping her coffee slowly as it cooled off.


    As she was eating, she unlocked her phone and was looking through the news. The headlines were somewhat familiar to her in terms of current events, and there was also a smattering of things she didn’t recognize.


    Did I get transported to an alternative universe by that truck? She wondered, frowning at her phone. Or did I just miss some of these headlines before?


    She sighed at herself and shook her head. There’s only one way to find out, she thought. And that is just to see what happens.


    She swallowed her last sip of coffee and noticed that it was time to leave. She quickly checked the weather in an attempt to determine if she would need a jacket or not.


    It was warm, just as it had been earlier that year in September.


    She nodded at her phone, and then went over to the hallway byt the door, grabbing her purse and her car keys.


    “See you soon, Tanpopo,” she said, glancing over at him in his bed. He stared back at her, slowly blinking his eyes a few times.


    Daphne let out a low giggle. “I love you too, Tanpopo,” she said. “Hopefully I’ll be back tonight.”


    She took a deep breath, and then left her apartment. As she was locking the door, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and noticed that she had a text from Gary.


    Hello beautiful, it said. Hope you have a wonderful day!


    Daphne’s heart felt lighter. Gary… she thought, a small smile creeping back onto her face. I guess if this isn’t hell and I’m truly back in the past, maybe I’ll have a shot at saving our relationship before things get too bad.


    You too! She texted back with a heart. Good luck today.


    ~


    A team meeting on a Monday? Daphne thought, locking her computer and standing up. Her co-workers were all also grumbling about how early it was for a team meeting. To her right, Fiona was lazily sucking down a name brand, expensive coffee. Daphne had to hold back a look of disgust. Though it hadn’t technically happened yet, if it ever had, Daphne didn’t think she would ever be able to forgive Fiona for throwing her under the bus right before Christmas.


    Near Trevor’s door, Holly’s braided hair caught Daphne’s eye. Her face broke out into a small smile. I wonder if she’d be willing to sit next to me for the meeting, she thought. Has she been trying to be friendly with me for longer than I thought?


    Daphne strode over to Holly’s cubicle and gently tapped her on the shoulder. Holly turned around and her eyebrows shot up when she met Daphne’s eyes.


    “Would you mind if I sat next to you?” Daphne asked, chewing on her lip a little.


    Holly’s eyes widened and a small smile spread on her face. “That sounds great to me,” she replied.


    “Thanks,” Daphne replied, smiling back.


    Holly looked a bit puzzled, but she didn’t question Daphne as they walked to the conference room together in silence.


    They sat down together at the table, and Holly smiled brightly at her. “How was your weekend?” she asked.


    Daphne swallowed hard. Maybe it was a bad idea to sit next to her today, she thought. I have no idea what I would have possibly done this past weekend.


    “It was, uh, good,” Daphne replied trying to force her wince into a smile.


    “Did you get all that work done on Friday night?” Holly asked. She genuinely seemed concerned. “It seemed like you were underwater with the amount of stuff you had to get done.”


    Daphne couldn’t keep the grimace off her face any longer. …I have no idea what to say, she thought. Maybe I should have called in sick for the day while I figured everything out.


    Internally, she winced. But I would have been so far behind if I had done that. As it is, I am running behind because I don’t even know what projects I was working on when I came in this morning.


    “Oh no,” Holly said, reacting to Daphne’s face. “Were you here super late again?”


    Daphne nodded even though she, herself, didn’t know. “Unfortunately,” she replied. “How was your weekend?” She asked Holly with a strained smile.


    Anything to get this conversation off me, Daphne thought.


    “It was very good,” Holly replied with a smile that seemed a bit surprised. “I spent a lot of time with my son.”


    Daphne had to do a double take at the woman’s face, her eyes widening at Holly’s statement. “Your son?” Daphne asked in a high-pitched voice.


    Holly looked a bit disappointed. “Ah, yes,” she replied, tucking one of her braids behind her ear awkwardly. “My husband was on vacation, so it was just me and my son.”


    Daphne’s ears felt like they were steaming. How could I have not known that Holly was married and had a kid, she wondered. Have I really paying that little of attention to the people around me?


    “Sorry,” Daphne replied, looking down and feeling her body slump. “I had totally forgotten that you had a son, so you surprised me,” she lied.


    The smile returned to Holly’s face and Daphne felt her stomach swirl from the lie she had just told. I’m so fake, she thought. What the hell is wrong with me?


    “That’s alright,” Holly replied. “I feel like I talk about him a lot, but I know I look too young to have a son.”


    A lump formed in the back of Daphne’s throat. I was so stupid to lie about that, she thought. Of course she talks about her son a lot. It probably would have served me better to just have been honest.


    “You do look really young,” Daphne agreed, not really knowing how old Holly was either.


    This is too hard, she thought. I should have just waited for her to approach me.


    Most of the team had filed into the room, and Daphne found herself looking around for Landon. “By the way…” she began to say, as she saw Landon and Trevor coming up to the conference room. Landon was trailing behind, looking anxious.


    Oh shit, Daphne thought, biting back her words before they came out. It’s Landon’s first day.