Time Of Death

“Beep,” I heard, randomly.

I opened my eyes and sat up in my bed. The noise startled me as I looked to see what it came from. Across my room, near the window, was my alarm clock. It was the only bit of light that was shining in the room and was the only thing that could’ve made that noise. I stared at it for a second or two, seeing it blink 12 am every second, in that ominous red glow.

The clock must’ve reset on me. I didn’t quite know the reason for it, but I just assumed that maybe the power shut off while I was sleeping. It has happened before, never at night, but that was probably the reason for it.

I stood up in the darkness, placing my feet on the floor as I got out of bed. My eyes were heavy as I felt the fresh fatigue of just waking up. I walked over to my clock, looking to change the time to what it’s supposed to be. But as I grabbed my phone, which was charging right next to my clock, I saw that the time also said 12 am.

For a second, I was riddled with confusion. Was it actually 12 am? Did my phone reset or something, too? I was tired and not all there, but even if I wasn’t, I felt like this still wouldn’t make sense.

I decided to wait and see if the time would change on either my phone or my clock, but as I stood silently, counting the seconds in my head, neither of the clocks changed. They were just broken — they had to be.

In the moment of uncertainty, I opened my blinds to let in some of the neighborhood lights. I stood in front of the window, looking out to see anything off, but all was fine. The neighborhood lights were on just like any other night, and all the houses were quiet and sleeping. But, regardless of how it looked, something was still off — definitely off.

I looked back at the clock one more time, but still, nothing had changed, it was still 12 am. And as I looked at my phone as well, still it said 12 am. I knew this wasn’t just a long minute. Something was wrong with the time for sure. But even though things were all wrong, what was there for me to do? I was tired, and it wasn’t like this was any problem that had to be solved now. So, ultimately, I decided to just go right back to bed.

It had to have been fifteen minutes later, with me still not being able to fall back asleep. I wanted to, but I just stopped being tired all of a sudden. Instead, I was now hungry and just wanted to eat something. My stomach was growling, and as I stared across the room at the clock that still said 12 am, I figured I might as well.

So, after getting back out of bed and grabbing my phone, I cracked open the door to my room and started walking downstairs to the kitchen. I made sure to be quiet on the way down, as I knew my family were all in their room sleeping. Unfortunately, the silence of the house made that very hard with every soft step creaking throughout the house.

Eventually, I made it down the stairs onto the quiet tile floor. Down the hall was the kitchen, where I made my way over to. There was a small night light in the corner of the room, but other than that, the room was pretty dark. The microwave and oven had a little light coming from their tiny clocks, both flashing 12 am, adding to the mystery of what happened to the time. I didn’t pay too much mind to it, however, as all I wanted was something to fill me up so I could try and go back to bed.

I opened my fridge to see the illuminating light brighten up everything around me. There was really nothing in there I could’ve eaten as a snack. Just some old leftovers and pre-made meals I didn’t really feel like eating. I decided to close the fridge and walk over to the pantry instead. Inside was an old cup of ramen noodles I haven’t yet eaten. It was perfect, I thought, as I grabbed it from the back of the cabinet.

I then picked up a fork from the sink and walked over to my water dispenser to pour some hot water into the cup of ramen. From there, I walked over to the dining room table just a few feet away, sitting down as I waited for the ramen to be ready to eat.

This had to be the first time I ever had a late night snack, let alone be up this late while everyone was sleeping. I knew it was well past midnight; there was just a different feel to when it was. It wouldn’t be this quiet if it were any other time. The silence was just different. It held a different quirk than usual. Because, unlike any other moment, you knew that you were the only one up right now. Or that’s what it felt like at least. The whole world just seemed to be sleeping, while you were awake doing who knows what. It just felt different because not only was it quiet, but it was also very isolating to know you were the only one awake.

I was scrolling on my phone when I heard a sudden “Beep” out of nowhere.

It was different from the one my alarm clock made, quieter, and more concise. I looked over to the kitchen where it came from, assuming it was the microwave that made it. It felt louder than it was, which, all alone like I was, would typically make it more startling or eerie, but I didn’t seem to feel such ways. I just looked over at it in curiosity, questioning once again why the time has suddenly stopped on all devices. For a brief moment, I almost felt like looking it up to see the reason why, but right when I was about to, something flashed on my phone.

It was a text message from one of my friends, Danny. I didn’t know why he was up this late, but expecting nothing, I checked to see what he sent me. And all it was, was a message saying, “Are you up?”

I quickly texted back, saying I was. Where almost immediately, he responded.

“I need you to come by tomorrow and pick up my dogs. I’m not going to be home for a while and I need someone to take care of them.”

I was a bit unsure about the sudden request, so I asked him, “Why? Where are you going?”

He didn’t respond as quick this time, almost seeming like he was hesitating to say something.

“Just do it. I can’t explain. I have to go,” he wrote.

“But why? What’s going on?”

“Danny?”

“Hello”

“Are you still there?”

I wrote and wrote, but he didn’t get back to me.

I felt my chest tighten, as a tint of fear seeped into my lungs. Up until this moment, things were just weird, but now I just felt a little scared. I didn’t know what was going on, and I had this overwhelming feeling of dread come over me as I sat in silence, all alone, but feeling like there were eyes watching me.

The feeling terrified me, and I almost wanted to run. I grabbed the fork and devoured my noodles as fast as I could. I didn’t feel safe for some reason, so the only thing I could think of was to just go to bed and wake up for tomorrow. And as soon as I got done eating, I made sure to do just that as I hurriedly made it to my room, waiting for the morning sun to wake me up.

In the morning, I awoke from my bed, not as terrified as before. I looked across the room at my clock, and to my surprise, it didn’t read 12 am. It stifled me because I know I didn’t fix it, so how could —

All of a sudden, I remembered the request my friend told me late last night. I didn’t know what to make of the situation, but I felt the need to check up on him one more time. I opened my phone, where the clock also said the current time, seemingly being fixed overnight. I was so confused, but I darted past it to text my friend. However, as I opened our chat history, nothing about what he said last night appeared. Nothing I said was there either. Everything was just gone — like it never happened.

Part of me wondered if it was a dream, but that just didn’t seem possible. It was real, it had to have been. I even went downstairs to see if my cup of noodles was still in the trash, and just like I thought — it was.

Nothing was making sense, so I decided to text Danny to confirm what happened yesterday night. And after hours of no message back to me, I began to get worried. He said he was going somewhere and needed me to take care of his dogs, but where was that ‘somewhere’? Eventually, I had enough of waiting around and decided to take off to his house.

It took me all but ten minutes to get there. I parked on the street in front of his house and walked over to his front door. I rang the doorbell and knocked on the door, but there was just nothing. I circled around to a nearby window to try and get a glimpse of the inside, but all of his blinds were shut.

In my mind, I was starting to panic. I didn’t know why, really, but things just didn’t seem to be okay. I began to become desperate to get inside, checking the windows to see if they were open, and even hopping into his backyard to try his backdoor, but it was to no avail. My heart was racing faster than ever with potential thoughts. But suddenly, I remembered an old conversation I had with my friend. It was about a spare key he hid in his front yard. I didn’t know the specifics on where he kept it, but it was my only hope.

So, as I went back to his front door, I immediately started looking everywhere I could. And eventually I found something shiny and metal sticking out from a plant pot near the door. It was the key to his house, which I grabbed the second I saw it, using it on the door to get inside.

I screamed his name from the inside, but no one answered. However, I did hear the sound of skittish footsteps quickly approaching me from down the hall. Two dogs came running up to me, pouncing at my lower body as if they had to tell me something. They were clearly startled, whimpering and squirming as I pet them both. And I knew they had something to show me as they started to lead me down the hall.

I followed them with urgency, fearing the worst had come. My breath was heavy as I turned the corner to the open room they took me to. And unfortunately, what I feared was here to stay, as what I saw was my dear friend’s lifeless body on the floor. I ran to his aid, but it was already too late. Before I knew it, the emotions started pouring in, as I picked up the phone to make a call for help.

When help arrived, they told me to wait outside with the dogs while they investigated his body. I maintained a composed face, but I was internally breaking on the inside. They began questioning me for what I knew, but I really didn’t have much to give them. I had too many questions myself. Questions, and a story that no one would believe.

I had to watch my best friend get rolled out of his home on a stretcher — when last night, he seemingly texted me to look after his dogs. It didn’t make sense, no, not one bit. But no matter how much I tried to seek answers, I knew they would just never come. It would forever be a mystery — a mystery that I would have to carry.

A few weeks went by, and finally I got my hands on his autopsy report. Up until this point, I always asked myself why twelve o’clock. It just never made sense, but as I read down the fine print of the report, I realized that it definitely did make sense. As what it read was, “Time of Death: 12:00 am.” It was all but a line, but it was all I needed to make it make sense. I never believed in the supernatural, but after this, I guess I do — Thanks, Danny.

© 2025, John Henry. Published by WhisperPublications. All rights reserved.

— John Henry