“It’s time to go…” A strange voice echoed inside Timoi’s mind. “Go there… find it… You could win!”

A drop of sweat rolled down Timoi’s face, his eyebrows furrowed tightly as he tossed and turned in his sleep. “Your dream is just a joke! But you still need to go to the-”

Suddenly, Timoi jolted awake. His back was soaked with sweat. Gross.

“What in the world…?” he muttered, yawning. “Did I get another headache? Ugh, it’s worse than before… maybe because of the-”

“Timoi! Get out of bed! It’s your first day of school!”

“Mom, what are you talking about? I just finished university!”

“It’s middle school, sweetheart!”

“Oh… so it’s summer break then?”

“No! You’re not from the 2030s! Breaks were something your great-great-great-grandfather had!”

“Well, since they are my great-great-great-grandfather’s, I’d still prefer their rules more,” Timoi mumbled. His mom walked into his room and coldly stared straight in his eyes. Timoi’s body stiffened, wondering if she had heard him. 

“School starts at nine, and you’ve only got thirty minutes. So either wake up or get expelled on your first day.”

Timoi groaned as he got up. “How could I get expelled just for being late…?” For just a regular middle school day, he didn’t understand why his mom was being so intense. It wasn’t like this first day was any more special than other first days.

“I also have appointments to get to so hurry up dear!” Timoi’s mother responded gleefully as she practically pushed him out the door.

But as she watched him skedaddle down the hospital hallway, she sighed, whispering to herself, “His headaches are getting worse. He’s saying strange things that don’t exist anymore… and now he’s even talking back to me…”

A nurse overheard and replied kindly, “I’m sorry, ma’am, but Doctor Nancy’s room is right outside that door.” 

“Oh! Thank you,” Timoi’s mom said, embarrassed. She walked away, unaware she had just passed the door labeled Doctor Nancy. The nurse nodded understandably before leaving for psychiatry. Too flustered to look back, Timoi’s mom left the hospital altogether.

When Timoi arrived at school, his best friend Berff Bopth rushed up to him immediately.

“Hey, Timoi! What did you do this summer break? I did plenty of things! Like… hmm wait, what did I do? Anyway, I forgot what I was talking about.”

“Summer break?” Timoi said, confused. “That doesn’t even exist anymore. Maybe in the future, but not now.”

He looked at Berff’s outfit, an old hat and clothes that looked straight out of Ancient Egypt. Berff looked like he was imitating a middle-aged tourist man, much different from his usual wardrobe.

“Why are you dressed like that? It’s not even the school uniform.”

Berff stared at Timoi’s jeans and t-shirt, then burst out laughing. “I’m weird? Look at you! Jeans and a shirt? What are you, a boiled chicken?!”

Timoi glanced around and then froze. His classmates were wearing even stranger things. One was dressed like a cactus. Another wore all red with underwear on his head. Someone wasn’t wearing anything at all… because they were totally INVISIBLE!! Before Timoi could react, a loud announcement boomed through the school speakers.

“ATTENTION, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS! Please gather in the assembly hall immediately. You may have noticed that your classmates are acting strangely, and that the world doesn’t seem to match your memories. This is normal, yes. Come to the assembly, and we will explain eeeeeverything.”

The voice of an old man faded, leaving the halls buzzing with confusion. Students discussed amongst themselves, sharing theories in hushed voices. Some confirmed that their own memories indeed didn’t match the world around them. Ten minutes later, everyone was gathered in the assembly hall.

The room was noisy and tense. Some students tried to leave, but the doors were blocked by an invisible barrier. Suddenly, a deep vibration filled the walls, and the noise stopped. Anyone who dared to speak found their mouths sealed by a strange matter, something no one had ever seen before. Strangely enough, no one seemed to think much of it.

“Now,” said a calm voice.

The old man from the announcement appeared out of nowhere, his body flickering like a shadow under a pulsing light. Timoi’s heart pounded. He looked around; some students were smirking, others seemed completely unfazed. It was as if they’d seen this before.

But not Timoi.

He shouted without thinking, and somehow, the strange power didn’t silence him.

The shadowed man turned, startled.

“Well, well,” he hissed. “It seems someone doesn’t like following the rules.”

He paused.

“Let’s see if anyone still remembers our justice.” The shadow man's hand clicked; at the snap of his fingers, the entire planet froze.

A robotic voice boomed across the entire planet, from something grander than the school speakers that shook Timoi deep in his bones. “RESET 11. Level 1.”

Reality blinked out of existence.

The sound of rain filled the air; miserable, an endless pitter-patter of drops. The sound intensified; it sounded like cards shuffling forever. Each drop fell like a tear.

Timoi opened his eyes. Above him loomed a giant that filled the sky, crying rivers. Its tears were the size of houses.

Before Timoi could move, one of the enormous drops fell straight on top of him.

When he opened his eyes again this time, he found himself lying in a basket. At first, he thought it belonged to the giant, but when he tried to move, his body passed right through it.

He was a spirit. A soul.

And before him lay a newborn baby…himself.

He tried to control the baby’s body but couldn’t. All he could do was watch.

Timoi feared he might be trapped like this forever, forced to witness his own life as a ghost. But he pushed the thought away. He remembered being lost outside and finding his way home, or escaping a dog that once chased him down the street. Losing hope was the worst thing to do. There would always be a way out if he stayed hopeful.

Days passed. Then weeks.

Timoi experimented, trying to move objects like ghosts in movies. It worked, but the things never actually moved. He couldn’t affect the world.

His only discovery was that when he slept, time passed faster. He could sleep as long as he wanted, even for weeks at a time.

Then an entire year passed.

Timoi began to worry he’d never escape. He wondered how he hadn’t gone insane yet. He slept again, and when he had awakened, twelve whole years had gone by.

He was astonished.

Because the boy he was watching, his younger self, was now reliving the exact day that started it all.

That same strange world.

“It’s time to go…”

A strange voice echoed inside Timoi’s mind.

“Go there… find it… You could win!”

A drop of sweat rolled down Timoi’s face, his eyebrows furrowed tightly as he tossed and turned in his sleep.

“Your dream is just a joke! But you still need to go to the-”

Suddenly, Timoi jolted awake. He was shaking and knocked over a deck of cards that spilled onto his floor, all jokers with menacing smiles.

“Weird…” Timoi thought. He leaned over to pick up a card. The second he touched the card, the room went black. A voice echoed.

“RESET 11 PAUSED.”