Endless Hallway Leads to a Tiny Kitchen

Endless Hallway Leads to a Tiny Kitchen

I was late for my morning meeting, sprinting down the hallway of my office building, but the hallway kept stretching forever. Every door I tried opened onto the same tiny kitchen where my roommate was making coffee, even though I knew the conference room was on the 12th floor. I finally burst into the room, only to see my old high school chemistry teacher sitting at the table, wearing my boss's blazer and typing on a tablet that looked like a hologram. He smiled and said, "You missed the deadline, but it's okay, we already sent the report to the other timeline." I fumbled for my badge, but it turned into a set of keys that wouldn't fit any lock. The clock on the wall showed 8:15, then 9:45, then back to 7:30. I felt a knot of anxiety and embarrassment, but also a weird calm, like I was watching a familiar movie from a slightly different angle. When I finally woke up, I realized I was still in my pajamas, and the coffee mug on my nightstand was exactly the one from the dream.