Page 3 of Time Loops & Meet Cutes
Why do I hear my alarm? It’s Saturday.
Annoyed, I turn it off and curl up under the covers, but half an hour later, I’m still awake. I climb out of bed with a sigh, put on some clothes, and turn on the coffeemaker. As I’m waiting for my caffeine, I pick up my phone and pull up Wordle. I use my usual starting word—I’m a creature of habit—and just like yesterday, I get one green letter and one yellow. I do the same second word.
Huh, that’s odd.
For my third word, I do “campy,” like I did yesterday. Three green letters. Again. Could it be…?
I typeh-a-p-p-y, and sure enough, it’s the word.
Hmm. The site must be broken, but just to be sure, I look at the calendar on my phone.
June 20.
What?
How is it June 20? That was yesterday. Something must be wrong with my phone. The date got messed up, and that’s why Wordle loaded the wrong word. Hurriedly, I turn on my work laptop at the kitchen table. I type in my PIN and look at the date in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
June 20.
Is someone playing a trick on me?
I open up the proposal, and it quickly becomes apparent that something is wrong here too. I know I have the latest version on my laptop, yet all the changes that Tyler and I made yesterday? They’ve vanished.
No, no, no.
I’ll have to redo it all.
I go to my inbox. The email I got early yesterday morning isn’t…
Oh. There it is. It just came in.
I pour myself a mug of coffee. At least my coffeemaker is still working properly, and I have that delicious pandesal for breakfast. I remember setting it on the counter, right next to the fruit bowl. Except the fruit bowl contains three oranges when it should only have two, and the pandesal is nowhere to be found.
And that does it.
“Fuck!” I cry.
What the hell is going on? Nothing makes sense.
I call my parents.
“Noelle?” Mom says. “Is something wrong? It’s seven thirty in the morning.”
I ignore her question. “What day is it?”
“June twentieth.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Is—”
“Sorry, got to go.”
I end the call and cover my face with my hands. All the evidence points toward it being June 20 again, but how could that be possible? Am I losing it?
No. There must be an explanation. Maybe I just had a very vivid dream last night. I dreamed June 20 before it happened…and somehow, my subconscious even knew the answer to today’s Wordle.
Yes, that must be it. It was simply a vivid dream and an unlikely coincidence.
