One of my more recent additions to the library! I am quite fond of this one. Oh, but be aware, there are mentions of suicide in this story, so I would not recommend this story if that bothers you.

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Next Today

(2022)

At first, I thought it was a dream. Then I thought I was hallucinating. But science terms have failed me. All I know is that I'm very sick of September 7th, 2022.

I remember to grab my umbrella today, unlike yesterday. Or last today. Whatever.

The main route is usually the best option to avoid cars splashing me from the puddles of the storm only a few hours earlier, thanks to slow traffic. But today I'm feeling special. Instead of walking to work (for the millionth time), I decide to head east. Because why not.

This time, I choose to sing in the street. Because when the day resets, no one will remember. I tell a street performer that I'd give him ten dollars if he played "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley. I think he'd heard that request before, but he did it anyways.

I've done this all before. Too many times to count. I can tell you who will gare at me and which random stranger will compliment my voice, I can tell you– huh?

There's someone new today. That makes literally no sense. This doesn't happen. Time loop logic (at least I'm pretty sure it's a time loop). The new person is a girl about my age. Probably. I'm guessing. She's curled up on a bench, knees pulled up to her chest in a little ball. Her face is hidden in the little ball position, but I can still hear the muffled sniffles of leftover tears.

After a moment of hesitation, I sit down next to her, setting my book bag next to me (with my umbrella tucked safely inside for later).

Tapping her lightly on the shoulder, I greet her with a little "hi".

She shifts her head to look at me. Her eyes are puffy and red from tears. I get a weak "hi" in return.

"Do... you need a shoulder to cry on?" I joke in a light tone. Humor is my only coping mechanism that's survived this long.

The small smile is worth the amount of cringe I'm feeling inside. The girl lifts her head to wipe away the tear streaks. I watch her closely as she rubs her face with the sleeve of her sweater, before wrapping her arm back around her legs.

Giving her a moment to control her breathing, I ask "Do you want to talk?" I probably could have said "are you ok", but that usually just makes people cry more.

More sniffles. "It's a long story."

I laugh quietly to myself. Time is not an issue for me. "Well, I'm in to rush. Only if you want to though." I'm trying (and probably failing) to keep the desperate curiosity from showing.

The girl thought for a moment.

"It's going to rain soon." the sky is still perfectly clear, and my curiosity is peaked. "We should at least head somewhere indoors."

I nod, and we make our way into a small coffee shop only a few buildings down.

So now I'm in a quaint, little coffee shop, sitting across from the tear-stained girl, with my cup of coffee to bring warmth back to the tips of my fingers. I have to admit, this is a new one for today.

"Do you believe in time loops?"

I almost laugh. "Yeah, I'm living in one."

She frowns. "I'm not joking."

"Neither am I."

Although the girl's jaw did not actually drop, the saying is a fantastic description of her face right now.

"You... you're stuck too?"

"Yep," I said, popping the p for extra emphasis.

The girl leans back in her chair with wide eyes. "I thought I was the only one. I even put a thing up on Reddit asking if anyone else was stuck, but all the comments just said I was crazy."

Huh. Reddit would have been a great idea.

"Well, now that we've established that we're both stuck, you wouldn't happen to know why we're stuck?" I know I'm getting my hopes up, but it's worth a shot.

She shakes her head. "I have no idea."

I drum my fingers on the table as I think. "Well, do you think you could tell me... What's going on?" I gesture at her disheveled state. "It could help us get out of this."

The girl nods.

"Yesterday my best friend... committed suicide," her voice cracks at the last word.

"Oh."

"So every day, I get a text from his family, saying he's gone. And there's nothing I can do." The girl wipes away the budding tears with her sleeve again.

It's a bit difficult to give a hug from across a table, so I settle on a (hopefully comforting) hand squeeze. As she composes herself enough to continue, I wonder if maybe this is why we're stuck. We need to save her friend.

"For a while, I thought the time loop was so I could help him, but..." More sniffles and tear wiping, "the loop doesn't go back far enough."

Well, I guess that's not it.

"I'm so sorry, that's awful." I don't know what else to say.

The girl smiles sadly. "You'd think I wouldn't cry every time at this point, but I still do." This only causes more tears to fall.

I finally give up and step around the table to give her a proper hug.

*       *        *

"Meet at the bench tomorrow? We're gonna figure this out."

The girl nods. "Yeah."

The sun has started to set (not that you can tell, it's pouring rain), and surprise surprise, you still need to sleep in a time loop.

We step outside the coffee shop, into the pouring rain. After rummaging through my bag for a moment, I pull out my umbrella.

The girl pulls her own umbrella out of a bag I failed to notice after a whole day.

"I'll see you next today."

I smile and watch her walk away, before turning in the opposite direction and heading home.

The walk back today is different than anything before. I skip as I head home, not giving a crap about who sees me. I skip because one day they will remember a girl skipping down the street the next day.

Because soon there will be a September 8th, 2022.