‘I thought I locked it’, I thought as I walked towards the door to my office that was left slightly ajar. My eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

I grabbed the handle and pushed it further back revealing my maplewood desk and my leather brown office chair settled behind it.

My bookshelf stood at the back of the room, towering over my desk and chair, stretching down to both sides of the room. I didn’t have many books.

The shelves were quite empty save for a couple of faerie encyclopedias from Dr. Reese Sutton. She was my favorite faerie anthropologist. I believe they call themselves Grythologists, or something close to it.

My bookshelf was a sight that was destined to make all eyes that landed upon it very sore. It was bald and dusty, much like the unfinished novels that sat scattered across my desk.

I walked forward and instantly sagged my shoulders in habitual relief. Despite its outward appearance, my office was my sanctuary. A place where I could write down my thoughts and look at them without feeling absurd or the least bit ashamed.

I snatched the curtains open, releasing a cloud of dust. I coughed. ‘My curtains are always open. There is no reason for them to be closed’.

But perhaps I should close them more often so that Mayra can clean more thoroughly. Still, I can’t quite imagine her ignoring the menial task of dusting windows.

I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. I need not worry just yet.

I walked around my desk and sat down, leaning back in my chair. It squeaked rather loudly and sadly, it was equally very comforting. I sighed. Something was off here, but I was much too relaxed to deeply think about it.

I suddenly felt a large wave of exhaustion wash over me. My muscles felt like they were releasing all of the stress from the last ten years of my life.

If the exhaustion wasn’t approaching at such an alarming rate I would think it to be blissful. I slumped back in my chair, my eyelids so heavy that I could barely keep them open for longer than 3 seconds at a time.

Something was definitely wrong. My mind scrambled for answers as panic immediately set in, however, my body betrayed me by staying still. The heaviness spread to the rest of my limbs like a wildfire.

I forced my eyes open and caught a glimpse of a dark figure at the entrance of my office. They took one step forward as my eyes fluttered closed for what was probably the last time.

‘The dust’, I suddenly remembered as my consciousness slipped away.