Midnight thoughts

She got up from the bed, and sat still for almost 10 minutes. Seem like she was trying to figure out something. She moved her face toward the window. There was a small bird making noise. She put her left foot on the cold floor. She felt from foot to head. Cold. Not the normal cold that comes when you wake up in the morning. It was different. It felt like her whole body had been sleeping somewhere else. Then she put her right foot on the floor. She looked around the room. Everything was familiar. But something was not right. She didn't know what. She slowly stood up. Her eyes went toward the mirror. She stopped. There was a girl standing in front of the mirror. She knew that girl. It was her. She touched her face. The girl in the mirror touched her face too. She moved her hand away. The girl did the same. She smiled a little. Then suddenly she stopped smiling. There was something written on the mirror. She moved closer. At first she thought it was just some dirt. She wiped the mirror with her hand. The words became clear. DON'T GO OUT TODAY. She stared at it. Her heart started beating faster. She looked behind her. Nobody was there. She turned back toward the mirror. The words were gone. She touched the glass again. Nothing. She stepped away. "Who wrote that?" Her own voice sounded strange in the room. She looked at the window. The little bird was still there. It was sitting on the same branch. Making the same sound. Again. Again. Again. She frowned. She walked toward the window and opened it. The bird flew away. She looked outside. The street was empty. Too empty. Usually there were people walking outside at this time. Cars passing. Someone selling something. Children going to school. But today there was nothing. She checked the time on the small clock beside her bed. 7:10 AM. She picked up her phone. The screen was black. She pressed the power button. Nothing. She pressed it again. Still nothing. "Battery dead?" She connected the charger. The phone turned on. She looked at the screen. There were no messages. No calls. No notifications. Then she noticed the date. She froze. She read it again. Then again. 17 October 2014. She stared at the screen. Her fingers became cold. "No..." She shook her head. She changed the date settings. Maybe the phone was wrong. Maybe something had happened to it. She opened the internet. No connection. She tried calling her mother. The call didn't go through. She looked at the date again. 17 October 2014. She remembered that date. She was a child in 2014. She wasn't supposed to be here. She sat on the edge of the bed. Her breathing became heavy. "This is not possible." She looked around the room again. Now she started noticing things. The old wooden cupboard. The small table near the window. The blue curtains. The picture hanging on the wall. She knew all of them. But she hadn't seen them for years. She slowly walked toward the cupboard. There was an old photograph sitting on top of it. She picked it up. It was a photograph of her family. Her mother. Her father. And herself. She looked at her younger face. Then she looked at the date written behind the photograph. 2014. She dropped it. The glass frame broke on the floor. She stepped back. Her eyes filled with tears. "Where am I?" Suddenly she heard something. A sound from downstairs. Someone was walking. Slowly. Step. Step. Step. She stopped breathing. Someone was coming toward her room. She looked at the door. The footsteps stopped. There was silence. Then three knocks. Knock. Knock. Knock. She didn't move. Another knock. This time louder. She slowly walked toward the door. Her hand reached for the handle. Before she could open it, someone spoke from the other side. "Are you awake?" She knew that voice. Her heart stopped. She hadn't heard that voice in years. It was her father. But her father had been dead for almost six years. She stepped away from the door. "No..." Her eyes started shaking with tears. "Papa?" There was silence outside. Then the voice came again. "Open the door." She covered her mouth. She wanted to run. She wanted to open the door. She didn't know which one. Her hand was still on the door handle. She slowly turned it. The door opened. Her father was standing there. Young. Alive. Exactly the way she remembered him from her childhood. He looked at her strangely. "Why are you crying?" She couldn't answer. She just stared at him. He smiled. "What happened to you?" She suddenly hugged him. He became confused. She didn't care. She held him as tightly as she could. For the first time in six years, she could feel his heartbeat. "Papa..." He placed his hand on her head. "What's wrong with you today?" She pulled away. She looked at his face. There was something behind his eyes. Something she couldn't understand. Then he said something that made her completely still. "Come downstairs. Your mother is waiting." She looked at him. "Mom?" He nodded. "Yes. Your mother." She followed him downstairs. Every step felt like she was walking inside a memory. The dining table was there. The old curtains. The clock. The same cups. And then she saw her mother. Alive. Sitting at the table. She almost started crying again. Her mother looked at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She didn't answer. Her mother smiled. "Sit down. You will be late for school." School. She looked at the clock. 7:25 AM. Her hands started shaking. She looked toward the calendar hanging on the wall. 17 October 2014. Her father was drinking tea. Her mother was preparing breakfast. Everything looked normal. Too normal. She sat down. Her mother put a plate in front of her. "Eat." She looked at the food. She couldn't. Her father looked at her. "You had that dream again?" She slowly raised her head. "What dream?" Her father stopped drinking tea. Her mother looked at him. Neither of them spoke. She felt something was wrong. "What dream?" Her father put the cup down. "The dream about the room." She stared at him. "What room?" He looked toward her mother. Her mother suddenly looked scared. Then the lights went off. The entire house became dark. She heard a sound. The same sound from her bedroom. The little bird. But now it was inside the house. She looked toward the window. The bird was sitting there. Staring directly at her. Then her phone vibrated. She looked down. The phone was showing 17 October 2026. She dropped it. The screen changed again. 17 October 2014. Then again. 17 October 2026. Again. 2014. 2026. 2014. 2026. Her father suddenly stood up. "Don't look at the phone." She looked at him. "Why?" He didn't answer. "Papa, what is happening?" He walked toward her. His face had completely changed. He looked frightened. "Because if you know what day it is..." He stopped. She waited. "...you will remember why you came back." She felt a sharp pain in her head. Everything around her started spinning. Her mother's voice became distant. Her father's face started disappearing. The room became blurry. She held her head. And then she remembered something. A car. Rain. A dark road. Someone screaming her name. Then a hand. A man's hand. Holding hers. And a voice whispering: "You have to go back." She opened her eyes. She was back in her bedroom. The room was quiet. The sun was coming through the window. She quickly looked at the clock. 7:10 AM. She looked at her phone. 17 October 2026. She started breathing normally again. She slowly got out of bed. Maybe it was a dream. Just a very strange dream. She walked toward the mirror. There was nothing written on it. She smiled nervously. "Just a dream." Then she noticed something on the floor. A small broken piece of glass. She bent down and picked it up. There was a tiny photograph stuck underneath it. She pulled it out. Her hands started shaking. It was a photograph of her family. Her mother. Her father. And herself. But there was one more person standing behind them. A girl. A girl who looked exactly like her. She turned the photograph around. There was only one sentence written on the back. "You have already done this once." She stopped breathing. And from outside the window... the same little bird started making the same sound. Again. Again. Again..