Alaine opened her eyes before the alarm on her phone rang.
For a few seconds, she remained curled beneath the blankets, staring into the pale yellow morning light creeping through her curtains.
The silence felt different now.
Not peaceful.
But no longer something she immediately needed to escape from.
That unsettled her more than she wanted to admit.
She usually reached out for her phone as soon as she woke up to turn on loud music and drown herself in noise before her thoughts had the chance to catch up with her.
But today, her phone remained untouched on the bedside table.
The room stayed quiet.
And unfortunately, so did her thoughts.
There was no distraction strong enough to silence the strange awareness growing inside her lately.
It followed her everywhere now.
At work.
In conversations.
Even during laughter.
Like something beneath her carefully built routine had started to crack open.
By the time she arrived at work, exhaustion weighed heavily beneath her eyes.
***
The office buzzed with its usual rhythm.
Hands swiftly clicking on keyboards.
Phones ringing.
Conversations drifted between desks as workmates chatted, some about work, some just the usual office gossip.
The familiar chaos should have warmed her heart.
Instead, it felt strangely hollow, cold even.
“Alaine?”
She looked up quickly.
Her supervisor stood beside her desk, holding a folder.
“You okay? You’ve been staring at the blank screen for almost ten minutes.”
Heat rushed to her face.
“Oh—sorry. I’m fine.”
There it was again.
That automatic response flowed out before she even thought about it.
Her supervisor nodded slowly before walking away, though not entirely convinced.
Alaine released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
Then entered her work password to start her day.
Numbers.
Emails.
Deadlines.
Tasks.
The same cycle repeated every day.
Suddenly, a thought slipped quietly into her mind.
Is this really my life?