It’s 3 AM… again… that’s ok. It’s normal.
I see to my job not thinking of the time. I look at the clock, it’s 3 AM… again. This feels a bit weird but I shrug it off thinking the phone isn’t working properly, thing that has happened before. There’s probably a delay or something in it switching to the new time zone. Feels weird but as I’m sure it’s nothing. I continue with my job, now cleaning.
How stupid I think to myself, who even thought of daylight saving time? It must have been confusing back in the day when technology wouldn’t set up your clock automatically. Now we have it easy. We sleep, and overnight time changes and bam, alarm clock rings exactly when it’s supposed to, no matter if the clock goes back or forward with an hour. Ah… an hour, that precious hour when you get to sleep more. Wish I would sleep more, wish I was in my bed right now not thinking about the changes of time. I’m almost done cleaning, I’m tired and you can even say I’m in auto mode, not really thinking of what I’m doing, after all I know where everything goes by heart. I’ve been here long enough to say I could probably do my job with eyes closed, after all it’s not that hard. I look at the time… it’s 3 AM. But how can it be 3 again? Now I start to become a bit stressed. Shouldn’t it be 5 AM? Did my phone really break? I go to check the cash register, it’s 3 AM. Ok keep your calm I tell myself. I go to check the paying machine. It’s 3 AM?! How can that be?? Is there a glitch in technology?? I try to keep my calm, there isn’t a point to panic. It’s probably gonna fix itself soon enough. Now I just sit, my eyes on the clock, weird but I didn’t have any customers in a while. Time slowly passes and it’s 3.59 AM. I don’t think I moved my eyes from the clock in all 59 minutes. I stare and I stare until the time becomes… 3 AM.
Now is when I start to feel something in the back of my stomach. It’s supposed to be 6 AM… right? I’m supposed to go home in an hour… but it feels like I’m somewhat trapped in this store, in this hour… 3 AM. People say 3 AM is a bad hour and bad things happen at 3 AM. I never understood why, but right now I’m starting to be terrified by looking at the clock and see 3 AM again. No, I won’t look. In an hour my colleague should be here and we can discuss of what’s happening with the technology. I do find it a bit strange though how I have no customers, it’s usually full of people on a Saturday night. They must all be enjoying that one extra hour of sleep. My curiosity got the best of me and I look at my phone, it’s 3.41. Can’t resist not staring at it again till it becomes 3.59. I close my eyes hoping I’d open them and see 7 AM or at least 4 so I know it’s moving.
I wait and wait… I’m afraid to open them. I talk myself to open my eyes and see it’s all ok… It’s 3.05 AM. Oh no… what is happening? Am I insane? Am I dreaming? And where is my colleague? She’s usually here a couple of minutes early. I’ll try calling her. Hm… I have no signal? But I have three and a half bars. I’m starting to slightly panic. I get out of the store… air is cold, sky starts to turn a lighter blue, and a dead silence? What? No birds? No dogs barking far away? No rooster singing their loud morning songs? Just… silence? Can I panic more now? Will I look stupid if I call 911? Who cares how I look, at this point even the voice of a far away operator would sooth me, maybe even telling me all is ok except for some glitch in technological items. 9..1..1… nothing. I thought you can reach 911 without signal? Then why won’t it ring? 3.25… I mean 7.25 because that is what the clock should show and my colleague ain’t here. No soul on the street, not even one of the many cats that always come here to be fed. I sit down in front of the store, looking at my phone and waiting to see someone, anyone. Time slowly passes. 3 AM again. No this can’t be. Maybe… maybe my colleague got sick or something and maybe people just don’t feel like walking on a cold Sunday morning… yeah that must be it. But I won’t lose anymore time here. My shift ended an hour ago and I miss my bed, my home, my… pets? Oh yes my pets! I’m sure once I get home and I’ll see another living creature I will feel better. Plus there is no way they won’t be there, after all it’s a small apartment. I take the key and lock the store and I’m on my way! I cross the street and… and… I open my eyes, I am back inside the store and the clock is… 3 AM.
I am dressed and I got my bag. This was not a dream. What? What is happening?? I ran out not even bothering to lock the door now, I open my eyes it’s 3 AM. No no no this can’t be happening. Am I going insane ? I don’t know, all I can tell you is that it’s been a day and a half of 3 AMs. I have set a battery clock to show me the real time, at least how I remember it. I haven’t seen anyone nor was I able to leave the store. I’ve been stuck on a constant loop of 3 AM in a place I detest. Good at least I got food, who knows how long till the clock will become 4.