My alarm blares into my ears and I jolt upright. I check the time—7:30! School starts at 8:00! I was going to be late. I jumped out of bed. I opened my closet door and pulled out a shirt I don’t remember owning, not being able to wear my usual clothes since I hadn’t bothered to do the laundry since I hit my head after falling into that hole in the ground. I had too much of a headache to be responsible.

I pulled out a pair of jeans I could’ve sworn I outgrew and slipped them on without an issue. Now that I was dressed, I went to brush my teeth. I checked the time on my phone—7:40. It had only felt like 3 minutes had passed. If time kept passing at this rate, I would be late for sure.

I searched for my toothbrush, but could only find my brother’s, which was odd since he kept his in the downstairs bathroom next to his room. I didn’t bother looking any harder for it, and supposed mouthwash would be enough. The mouthwash we had was practically spicy, stabbing my mouth as I swished it around. I spit it out and the strong minty scent brought tears to my eyes. I went to turn on the sink to rinse the spat out mouthwash down the drain, only to see the faucet was already on, but no water came out. Strange.

I turned the faucet off and the water poured out. I made a mental note to mention the plumbing issue to my parents after school.

I ran back into my room to slip my shoes on. I check the time again. 7:63. Thank god.

Wait, 7:63? That’s not a real time. I do a double take at the clock to ensure I had read it right. I stared at it and it changed to 7:64 in a matter of seconds. Less than a minute later, it reads 7:65.

I blink in disbelief. I recall all the odd happenings from lately, and realize they all began after I fell into that hole at the park and hit my head.

I had to go back and find out what was in that hole.