A young man was sleeping comfortably in his bed, with a white sheet covering his neck, one of his legs uncovered, as if it needed to breathe.
Victor woke up to the sound of his alarm: RING!, RING!, RING!, RING!, RING!, RING!
Just like yesterday, he let the alarm ring for about 10 seconds before finally turning it off. He wondered how someone managed to create something as irritating as the alarm. That "someone" should understand what noises really bother the human brain.
From time to time, Victor had the urge to smash his cell phone as soon as the alarm went off, like in movies or cartoons. Of course, he didn't do it. The problem was that he'd have to pay to buy another cell phone. He'd lose more than just money; he'd also lose everything stored on it and the time he'd spent buying another one. It would be a childish impulse.
«Humans are rational beings, even in moments of anger. It practically means that reason prevails over feelings. We always consider the pros and cons of our actions, and if it suits us, then if we let feelings prevail over reason and not the other way around» Victor thought.
Victor was ready to get up and have another day of work. Well, actually, he wasn't ready, but he had no choice. That was society. They might not point a gun at you and say, "GET UP AND DO IT OR I'LL BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT!" But they don't give you any choice.
He might be able to survive for a few months with the savings he has, but in the long run, he would be forced to go back to work or become a beggar. You have to work if you want to survive. Victor knew that, of course.
Victor got up, not very motivated. Having to repeat the previous day was never motivating, almost like a curse, like a true time loop, something that repeats itself over and over again, until it begins to seem like the days are the same.
The only things that made them different were the small discrepancies, such as: the shuttle doesn't always run at the same time, Victor doesn't always greet the same colleagues at work, the same vehicles or people don't always pass by on the streets, and Saturdays and Sundays that pass too quickly—those were some, if not the only, discrepancies that meant the days weren't a true time loop.
Saturdays and Sundays won by a landslide among the discrepancies.
«Getting ready for another today just like yesterday and tomorrow, ha» Victor thought with a slight smile. He did the same thing he did almost every day: he had breakfast, left his building, went down the stairs, walked to the bus stop, waited for the bus, and got on, hoping to get to work. There were all kinds of people on the bus: young people sitting in preferential seats, people too absorbed in their phones to notice anything around them.
Victor was in the middle of the bus, and some other people were waiting for someone to free up a seat.
In the end, Victor got off the bus without having the chance to sit down. When he got to work, he did the same routine as almost every day: greeting those on their way to his office, doing his work, hoping the hours would pass more quickly, but as soon as he thought about it, they passed more slowly.
After hours of constant stress, I finally left work. Inside the office, I couldn't tell what the weather was like outside; after all, it had no windows, so I always had to wear some clothes. As I left work, I felt the accumulated stress of being in that office ease a little, but it quickly returned because I knew I had to go again the next day.
He headed to the bus stop to wait for the shuttle. This time, he had to wait a while. The shuttle passed after Victor had been waiting for thirty minutes. By the time he got off the bus, the sun had already set, making it nighttime.
On his way to his small room, something broke the monotomy of his life, something that made Victor feel adrenaline rush. He was about to be robbed in an alley where there was only one way forward and one back, with Victor in the middle.
One man was in front of Victor, another behind him. Both were wearing hoodies, hiding their faces. What they wanted to do was obvious. They didn't try to hide it; their prey was cornered.
«Each of them is roughly 20 meters away, each holding a knife, both in their right hands»Victor thought, analyzing the situation.
Victor's heart was beating fast, excited, both by adrenaline and by the fear of dying. He was excited. Finally, something was going to break his monotony a little. Of course, he could die. He didn't have to fight and risk his life. He could hand over whatever they wanted and escape without a scratch. But he wasn't going to waste this opportunity. After all, It doesn't happen every day.
—Give us what we want and we won't hurt you— said the assailant in front, now about 5 meters away.
Meanwhile, Victor analyzed the best way to defend himself.
—Y-Yes, but don't hurt me— Victor said, fear evident in his eyes, taking his wallet out of his left pants pocket and his cell phone out of his right pocket.
This caused the assailant in front to lower his guard slightly, and the one behind moved slowly, waiting for some sign from his partner. Victor grabbed his wallet and moved it to his right hand, leaving his left hand free, which is his dominant hand. He leaned his right hand slightly forward in a sign of surrendering his cell phone and wallet, causing the assailant to lower his knife slightly and at the same time lower his guard.
But Victor did something unexpected, as quickly and as hard as he could, throwing the wallet and cell phone at the face of the mugger in front of him. Victor lunged forward, grabbing the knife from his right hand with his left hand, taking advantage of the mugger's surprise and the guard Victor had lowered with his fearful act, and then plunging it into the mugger's throat, killing him without hesitation.
Before Victor could do anything, a stabbing pain ran through his back, his entire back. The mugger in the back didn't stay still. When his partner was dead, he ran forward to stab Victor repeatedly. What seemed like a fit of rage for losing his partner was now simply the image of a sadistic killer.
—Die, Murderer, Trash!— The mugger said, anger palpable in his voice. Finally, when he grew tired of stabbing, he struggled to grab his companion's corpse and left, just left.
«Haha, they assault me, he defends me, and they call me a murderer just for defending myself?» Victor thought sarcastically.
—Ugh, it hurts— Victor said, gritting his teeth in pain.
As a pool of blood settled beneath him, the pain made him grit his teeth, the blood continued to flow from his back, the cold taking over his body.
«Am I going to die? Here? At least I wanted to die somewhere else» Victor thought, as he felt himself losing consciousness.
«This is where my cycle ends, even if I don't retire» Victor thought, reassigning himself to his destiny.
Tears fell from his eyes, until his eyes lost all shine.
Victor died, and his cycle ended...