Heartbeats and Time

a mural that mocks e

like a scalpel. Controlled.

the floor. The sound echoed in the too-perfect

d, tilting her chin just enough to show she wasn't int

parently, a sense of humor so thin it snapped under the weight of truth. He stood there in his tailored black suit

in suits tearing apart golden clocks with manicured ha

n minutes," he said, voice like the ti

hest, but she forced a laugh.

and walked away, like she wa

tev

e didn't regret the mural. Not for a second. She'd painted the trut

ator doors began to

hing b

went out. Not like

e someone hit a reset

k. Her hands pressed t

o

. The wall was

n't painted

dn't been t

ce barked fro

Same room. Same ma

and this time, confusion mixed with the usual condesce

blin

No

n't hap

n snapped shut. Something

Didn't even seem to reme

emember

emember

hell is

aine behind his eyes had gotten worse. Third time this day was repeated. Third t

t déjà vu. He kne

di

redict. The mural changed, the sky shifted, even the data in the Time Resonator logs

no one would lose a parent like he did. That no one else would h

d

s laughing

tist, chaos personified, wa

desk. Dozens of them. All ticking. None in sync. H

e like she knew him even when she didn't. The way she stri

she made him feel something

intercom. "Don'

was a

ir

Keep her in t

'd try someth

d find a way t

t why the universe kept resetting