Chapter Two: A Perfect Day

I woke in my own bed with sunlight resting on my eyelids. There had been no alarm, nightmare, or racing heart at four in the morning. My first thought was that I was late, yet the familiar panic did not come. It was 8:06. I had fifty-four minutes to submit my reflection. I sat up. Someone had changed me into pajamas and aligned my wet shoes by the door. I remembered nothing between Nocturne and home. Stranger still, I was not afraid. My skin looked luminous in the mirror, the shadows beneath my eyes almost erased. My hands did not shake as I made coffee. I finished the report in twenty-seven minutes. For the first time, I did not end with an admission of personal inadequacy.