Endless Summer

The sun never set on Seabreeze Cove. It was a perfect summer day—every single day. Warm golden sands stretched as far as the eye could see, waves lapped gently at the shore, and the air smelled of salt and sunscreen. For a group of six friends, it had started as the best vacation of their lives.

But then it never ended.

It had been Olivia’s idea. One night around the bonfire, she had whispered a wish into the flames: I wish this summer would never end. I wish we could stay here forever. The next morning, they woke up to another perfect beach day, the same as the last. At first, it seemed like a dream come true. But as the loops continued, subtle things began to change.

Loop 1: The Realization

“Déjà vu,” Ryan muttered, staring at the seagulls overhead.

“Same seagulls as yesterday,” Maya said, shielding her eyes against the sun.

“That’s impossible,” Jason argued. “They can’t be the exact same birds.”

But then more coincidences piled up. The radio in the beach house played the same songs, the same little girl dropped her ice cream at the pier, and every single wave crashed at exactly the same intervals.

By the third loop, denial turned into panic.

Loop 4: The Escape Attempt

The first plan was simple: leave the beach. They piled into Jason’s Jeep and sped down the coastal road, only to find themselves back at Seabreeze Cove without ever turning around. They tried hiking through the dunes, sailing away, even swimming as far out as their lungs would allow. But the moment they lost sight of shore, they would blink and be right back where they started.

“It’s like the ocean itself won’t let us go,” Olivia whispered, her voice hollow.

Loop 7: The First Omission

They woke up that morning and found that Dylan was missing.

“Maybe he broke the loop,” Maya suggested, her voice hopeful.

But his footprints stopped abruptly at the water’s edge, and the deeper they searched, the more the beach seemed to swallow their efforts. The bonfire crackled that night, and they swore they heard Dylan’s voice in the flames—whispering, calling, warning.

Loop 10: The Water Turns Against Them

The ocean wasn’t the same anymore. It grew darker, murkier, the waves more aggressive. The more they fought to escape, the angrier the water became. Something moved beneath the surface, shadows shifting and watching.

Then Jason disappeared.

Loop 15: The Sky Cracks

By now, the sun felt wrong. It hung too still in the sky, an unblinking eye. The heat was relentless, and the sand burned their skin. Clouds never formed, but shadows stretched in unnatural directions. The laughter of beachgoers grew distorted, their faces blurred like melting wax.

That night, Olivia stared at the bonfire. She swore the flames flickered in reverse.

“Maybe we need to undo the wish,” she said. “Take it back.”

“How?” Ryan asked. “You wished it. Maybe you have to end it.”

Olivia swallowed. “We light the bonfire again. And this time, we wish for it to end.”

Loop 20: The Final Wish

The fire crackled, taller than before, licking at the sky as Olivia whispered her wish. The air trembled, the sound of waves crashing louder and louder until it was deafening.

Then, darkness.

Olivia woke up to the sound of waves, but something was different. The sun was lower in the sky. The air smelled of a real evening breeze. And when she turned, Ryan, Maya, and the others were waking up too.

The loop had broken.

But as they ran toward the car, relief fading into nervous laughter, Olivia noticed something.

There were only five of them.