Chapter Text
There are many forms of a clock. One that counts down. One that counts up. Or even one that counts endless amounts of time. But here’s my question, who gets to decide when time stops? People rely on a cycle in the sky to tell us when the time begins and ends, and why it has that meaning it does. But a clock that counts down starts when the owner decides. If you think about it, we’re all on a timer, a timer related to our lives and everything centred around it. But who started that timer? Or does that timer start by itself? Questions that cycle throughout my head without a second thought or consideration about them. These questions don’t matter in reality. But I still decided to investigate. And that might - will - be the last thing I do.
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I open my eyes to slowly wake in a familiar room. My room. I turn my head to the side and find my window slightly opened, someone was in here. But they didn’t wake me? I sit up and stretch my arms out before standing up, my feet feel wobbly at first but I get used to the feeling of walking again, and I shut my window. The breeze is unsettling during the day, it feels as though it’s wrong almost. Other than that I walk down the stairs and into my lovely, dull, empty house. Living alone has its perks, but still, it’s pretty lonely. Maybe I should get a cat?
Most of the day is spent on my computer, between emailing work and checking my phone for the occasional update on the music industry there’s nothing really happening. Most of my days are like this, pretty dull and boring. Making myself have a meaning seems almost like an impossible feat, one I don’t know if I want to reach or not. But even so I continue through my day as normal. And once the sun starts to hide behind that of a million buildings, I go out for a walk.
I do this often, go out for a night walk by myself, let the breeze flow over my skin, it’s a nice feeling, peaceful. But this particular night started to feel weird. I doubled back a couple times due to the feeling of being watched. Paranoia? Maybe, but this feels really strange. Which is why it was no surprise when I felt a sudden tap on my shoulder. “Excuse me ma’am” the voice speaks behind me, I turn back to face him taking a small step back. “Uh, hi” I respond, my voice sounding shaky as I spoke. The man in front of me looks weird, he is a tall blond man wearing sweatpants and an unzipped jacket, but the weird thing is his eyes, there’s a certain something in them I can’t quite understand. He spoke again in a low tone. “You are Rena Bickson right?” He knows me? I respond with a silent nod, and he must be able to read my thoughts because he answers almost immediately. “Don’t worry, I only have a simple request, can you come to this location tomorrow night? There is a simple meeting that you have been requested to join.” And with those words he carefully hands me a sealed envelope. It’s a pale yellow colour with no name or stamp on it. I take the envelope in my hands and inspect it quietly before answering the man again. “What is this meeting for? And why am I invited?” I say with a concerned look on my face. “I’m not aware of the details unfortunately, I’m simply a messenger. The decision is left up to you” and with that he walks away, and all I can do is stand there awkwardly. And later that night once I reach home I open the envelope. It reads:
`Dear Rena, we have received some news that you are interested the worlds questions, most people overlook and turn a blind eye. But you are quite fascinating. We would like to invite you to discuss a few things regarding the matter. We hope to see you there. Good night.’ And with it a location at the bottom.
There is no signature, or sign off. Whoever sent the letter obviously wants to stay anonymous. Why? So many questions plague and pick at my brain that night, why am I involved in this? Who sent the letter? But I silence these questions and take a couple sleeping tablets before drifting off.