3:15 A.M.
I'm wide awake.
The wall is cold, but my back is used to it by now.
My feet hang near the edge of the bed, dangling in a slow, unconscious sway.
The rest of my body lies stiff, a dead weight.
I was in the middle of the sea, surfing—
and then I wasn't.
I stood on a roof that felt familiar in a way I couldn't place.
A tree grew beside it, close to the wall. It rose tall, its branches spreading overhead, casting shadows beneath its leaves. In their movement, I caught a glimpse of the full moon—its light fractured into pieces.
The chilly air grazed my bare hands and rustled through her white dress.
I noticed her then.
A girl walking toward the moon.
I followed, moving out from the shadows, stepping into the open sky.
Her hair flipped over the small bare square of her back. Her fingers loosely clasped behind her as she walked, her dress swaying in the breeze.
The moon looked pale beside her.
Suddenly, she stopped.
So did I.
"Stop following me. This won't end like this," she said.
Her voice carried a quiet melody.
"Wh-what do you mean?" I mumbled.
"It's too late, Ved." She paused. "Did you find it—what you wanted?"
Her words reached me before I could think. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
She looked up at the sky. "See? The moon today came prepared for me," her voice trembled.
As if she didn't want it to be.
"How do you—"
"It's alright." She cut me off. "But what if… I am somewhere—there. And waiting for you?"
Just as she was about to turn, she moved her face toward the moon again, showing me only the curve of her bare ear.
"Then I want to meet you," I said. "Please—just turn once. Let me see you."
"Will you?" She asked, and began to turn.
I watched the quiet grace of her bare ear, once again.
Thud.Thud. My heart thumped.
I was about to see her…
And then—
I woke in panic, drenched in the silence of my room, realizing she was gone—not only from the dream, but from reality too.
Cough. Cough.
Now I sit, sleepless, staring at the window opposite me.
The clock above my head shimmers in the glass.
It ticks faintly—but wrongly.
That thin spike jitters with every second in reverse, and with every tiny sound it makes...
I feel worn out.
The thought of that dream, slowly fades away.
3:20 A.M.
I scroll. Pause. Then scroll again.
The phone's glow burns into my eyes. And yet, I refuse to look away.
I throw the phone aside, lie down, and close my eyes.
Soon, uninvited memories start appearing.
A hazy one makes me sit up again.
3:35 A.M.
I give up—better to walk than rot here.
I slide to the edge of the bed, hands on my knees, and push myself up.
From the stairs to the hall, my legs feel heavy.
As I step outside, a gentle cold breeze welcomes me.
They say it's early morning. All I see is night.
Expected.
Creak… creak…
"Ahh."
I slide the gate with as little force as I can. It still creaks.
I stop once there's enough space to slip through, then step outside.
I leave it half-open. Let it complain.
To my right—
Flicker. Flicker. A streetlamp trembles, refusing to die.
Out of six lamps in our colony, it's the only one still alive—barely.
It has survived stones and sticks—never once fixed by the authorities.
Still, it glows dim, stubborn, beautiful in its own useless way. I have seen it blink even in daylight.
I walk toward it.
The closer I get, the darker everything feels as the light fades. I don't turn on my phone's flashlight.
It would feel like disrespect.
When I reach it, I whisper,
"Why do you try so hard when your whole existence is just… an annoyance to them?"
The lamp flickers once—twice—then burns bright in one last act of defiance.
And dies.
No sound. No flicker.
Just me, waiting.
"Good job, Ved," I whisper to myself.
"You killed it. Again."
I walk some distance away from the crime I've just committed.
I look back with a little hope—there isn't a flicker. Everything's dark.
I walk even farther, then turn one last time—just in case.
"It's hopeless now," I mutter, and walk.
3:'?' AM.
The silence grows too loud; the only sound I can hear is my footsteps.
Now and then, a random thought slips into my mind. It starts out real, and I overthink it until it turns into a fantasy.
While my mind spins one fantasy after another, my body keeps moving on its own.
By the time I notice where I am, I'm already beyond my colony.
The streets here are brighter.
The lamps keep multiplying ahead of me as I walk—bright and obedient, like a line of guards on either side.
But soon, the streets begin to vanish.
"Hmm…"
Only the road is lit now. The light stops at the edges, as if it can't spill any farther.
And beyond the edges, it's all dark.
I can't see the houses anymore. Maybe they're there.
Maybe they aren't.
Something feels slightly off.
My eyes search the darkness beyond the lampposts. It doesn't feel like night.
It feels like something that ought to be there… isn't.
My legs hesitate.
"I should head back now."
I pull out my phone.
Twitch.
It slips, bounces off my palm, skids to the very edge of the road, then drops past it and vanishes.
"Shit—"
I lunge and kneel at the boundary, where the concrete and the light both end.
There should be loose gravel and soil. Maybe a footpath or something.
I reach forward. My fingers cross the line where the light stops, into the dark.
Further… further…
And there's nothing.
I feel no ground. No slope. Not even resistance.
My hand hangs there in something cold and empty, as if nothing exists beyond this edge.
I swallow. Sweat beads on my neck. I push deeper, until my arm disappears into the dark.
"There's... nothing there."
I yank my arm back and stand.
Flicker. Flicker.
I turn, and then—freeze.
Behind me, the road is gone.
It's all darkness, with lamps floating in it, flickering. Their light stopping in mid-air, not reaching the ground.
"That doesn't mean there isn't ground… right?" I whisper.
But then I remember what happened a moment ago.
My body steps back.
The only surface I can see clearly is ahead. There, the lamps stand in a perfect row, lighting only the road beneath them—
as if someone drew reality with a ruler and stopped at the edges.
I breathe in, steady myself, and step forward.
As I draw closer, the light begins to weaken. When I pass beneath it, the glow above me fades completely.
Something shifts behind me.
I look back.
"Wh—?" I stiffen.
The lamp I just walked past is gone. Not fallen. Not broken. Just… gone.
And the road beneath it, where I was standing seconds ago, has vanished too.
"What is happening?"
A faint, dragging hush reaches my ear.
I glance ahead.
Beneath the next lamp, the road starts narrowing, its edge crumbling inward.
It shudders.
Click—
The lamp flickers once.
Is that a warning?
For a second, my legs forget how to move.
I run.
My breath tears out of me before I realize I've passed the lamp.
I stop, hunched, gasping.
Huff… huff.
This time, I don't turn.
There's no choice but to keep walking.
Time stretches, but my legs don't ache and my breath doesn't change. It feels like
I've been walking forever—and not at all.
Before I know it, a pale haze gathers along the road.
Ahead, the darkness loosens and dissolves into mist.
The light above me no longer keeps pace, stretching thinner with every step.
The air turns cold and damp.
The fog thickens.
Soon, I can barely see the road at all—only the lamps on either side glowing faintly.
Crunch.
My foot lands on something.
Sweat trails down my temple.
I look down.
"Wood?"
A little relief loosens my breath.
As I take the next step, my foot drops farther than I expect.
"Ugh.."
My body lurches before I can think.
I almost stumble, twisting my ankle, but manage to catch myself.
"What was that?" I turn.
Slowly, the darkness lifts.
And my eyes widen along with it.
The lamps... their glowing heads hovering in the fog, spread in every direction.
I take a step forward, then stop again.
The fog begins to thin.
There are no houses. No road. Nothing.
Everything in front of me is… trees and lamps.
The ground here is unpaved.
My steps falter, though I keep moving.
Is this some kind of art?
The trees have bizarre shapes: some stand tall and disciplined, their branches neat and orderly. Others are short, twisted, bent low, as if storms had shaped them.
What unsettles me most are the lamps beside them.
If a tree bends, its lamp bends with it.
If a tree stands tall, the lamp rises to match.
White fog drapes everything, softening the land until it feels unreal.
No path is laid out for me—nothing guides my steps in any direction.
Surrounded by this strange place, I wander deeper, moving between the trees.
"There must be a way out." I scan the ground for a path.
It should feel unpleasant. But compared to before, I accept this scenery.
The sky above is pale white, untouched by sunlight.
Dim lamps are scattered oddly among the trees.
Fog clings to their trunks and branches, blurring their outlines.
I walk closer to a lamppost. It's tall, evenly matched with the tree standing beside it.
I rest my palm against the metal pole. There's no cold. My palm goes numb.
Before I can ask myself why—
Flicker. Flicker.
A single lamppost blinks in an empty clearing.
No tree beside it.
I take a step toward it—
Crunch.
I look down.
There's nothing to make that sound.
"Ah?!"
My foot doesn't come down.
I try again.
My muscles don't answer.
My body locks in place—as if someone pressed pause on me mid-step.
My right leg hangs a few inches above the ground.
My blink doesn't finish; eyes stay half-open.
Nothing is clear. Everything turns white.
Crunch... crunch... crunch.
The sound crawls up my spine.
Behind me.
What is it… what is it… I keep guessing.
And then—
No footsteps.
No movement.
Not even a tremor in the air.
Thud. Thud.
My chest tightens. I breathe heavily.
"Hey…"
A voice cuts in.
"Aren't you a cute little wanderer? Walking so freely."
A girl?
Her voice is melodic—soft, clear, almost kind.
"Say something. Why are you silent?"
Her words point at me like a sword. Sharp, but gentle.
I try, but fail to even unseal my lips.
"It's fine," she says. Her footsteps crunch closer.
"I'll make you talk."
Her voice slips nearer.
"So now… will you speak?" She leans in.
Warmth brushes my right ear, her breath tickling it. The cold air grazing my empty left makes it worse.
My heart races.
"So this is how you'll behave when we meet."
Meet? Can't she see I'm stuck?
No, she can.
And she's enjoying it.
"Agh, you're such a bore," she scoffs.
Stop talking.
The helplessness crawls under my skin. It tickles, and I can't escape it.
My jaw tightens. "Hmmm…"
The sound barely makes it out.
I push harder. "Hh—mm—mmm."
"Stop."
Her voice sharpens.
"What's with this 'hmm-hmm,' huh?"
My teeth clench.
"Hhmm—mmh hmm—"
Who does she think she is?
"Enough," she says."I have to go."
"Hm?"
The warmth by my ear is gone.
No tickles.
Silence drops all at once.
"Hmmm..." I mumble.
Hey...
I try to move.
Something presses against my back.
Finally, my eyes open—fully.
Wall?