A day that repeats over and over

The sun peeked over the horizon, spilling golden light through the blinds. Ethan groggily reached for his phone, squinting at the time—7:00 AM. The alarm hadn’t gone off yet, but he was awake. A strange feeling gnawed at him, a sense of déjà vu so strong it made his stomach clench. He shook it off and got out of bed, heading to the kitchen to start his day.

The coffee machine gurgled as he scrolled through his phone. A news headline caught his eye: Traffic delays expected on Main Street due to overturned truck. Ethan sighed, knowing his morning commute would be a mess. He grabbed his keys and stepped outside, greeted by the crisp morning air.

As expected, traffic was a nightmare. The truck lay sprawled across the intersection, just as the news had reported. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for the line of cars to inch forward. The frustration was familiar, but not in the usual way—it felt too familiar, as if he had done this before.

The day dragged on in its usual rhythm: meetings at work, a bland lunch at his desk, the same awkward small talk with coworkers. By the time he left the office, exhaustion weighed on him. At home, he microwaved leftovers and mindlessly flipped through TV channels. Eventually, he collapsed into bed, feeling like the day had been a tedious rerun of something he couldn’t quite place.

The next morning, he woke up again at 7:00 AM. The golden light streamed through the blinds at the exact same angle. His phone’s screen displayed the same news alert: Traffic delays expected on Main Street due to overturned truck.

Ethan blinked. His heart pounded.

“No way,” he muttered.

He tried to brush it off. Maybe it was just a glitch—an old notification popping up again. But as he got into his car and drove, the same truck lay in the same position on the road, the same frustrated drivers honking, the same radio DJ announcing the same song lineup.

His breath quickened. He raced through the rest of the day, trying to prove to himself that things were different. But nothing changed. His coworkers repeated the same conversations. His lunch tasted exactly the same. The TV channels ran the same shows. When he fell into bed, dread pooled in his stomach.

Morning came. 7:00 AM. Traffic delays expected on Main Street due to overturned truck.

Panic gripped him. He was trapped.

He tried to fight it. He skipped work. Drove a different route. Ordered an extravagant breakfast instead of his usual coffee. But no matter what he did, the day still reset. He would always wake up at 7:00 AM to the same sunlight, the same traffic, the same conversations.

Days passed—or rather, the day passed over and over. He tested the limits, doing things he would never dare to try. He told off his boss, smashed his phone, even ran through the streets screaming just to see if the world would react. But by 7:00 AM the next morning, everything was back in place.

Hopelessness sank into his bones.

But then, something changed. One morning, as he sat in traffic staring blankly at the overturned truck, he noticed a woman in the car beside him. She looked just as frustrated as he felt, tapping the steering wheel impatiently. But there was something else—a flicker of recognition in her eyes when she glanced at him.

Ethan hesitated.

He rolled down his window. She did the same.

“You remember, don’t you?” she asked softly.

His breath caught in his throat.

“Yes,” he whispered.

Relief and terror warred within him. He wasn’t alone.

“What’s happening to us?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. But I’ve been stuck in this loop for longer than I can count.”

A shiver ran down his spine. He had assumed this nightmare was his alone. But if someone else was aware of it, maybe—just maybe—there was a way out.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, hope stirred within him.