Time Loop

It was 6:30 in the morning, and John was about to wake up. He did his daily routine, got dressed, and headed to work. He got in his car and started driving. Suddenly, John hit something. Thinking that he had hit a squirrel, John got out of his car to check. It was a boy, about 6 years old. John called 911 immediately. The boy was rushed to the hospital, and John continued driving to work. While John was at work, he received a call. It was from the hospital. The boy he hit had survived, but he could never walk again. After John left work, he visited the parents of the boy and apologized for what had happened. John had steak for dinner and went to bed.

The next morning, John woke up at 6:30 again. He thought nothing of it, as it was the usual time he woke up. As usual, John did his daily routine, got dressed, and headed to work. He got in his car and started driving. Suddenly, John hit something. "Didn't this happen yesterday?" John thought. John got out of his car to see what he had hit. It was a boy, about 6 years old. However, something about this boy seemed familiar: He resembled the boy John had hit yesterday. John thought that was weird, but he ignored it and called 911. The boy was rushed to the hospital, and John continued driving to work. While John was at work, he received a call. It was from the hospital. The boy he hit had survived, but he could never walk again. John was getting déjà vu. "All of this happened yesterday," John thought. After John left work, he visited the parents of the boy and apologized for what had happened. John had steak for dinner again and went to bed.

The next morning, John woke up at 6:30. Again, he did his daily routine, got dressed, and headed to work. He got in his car and started driving. Remembering the similarities between what had happened yesterday and what had happened two days ago, John took another route to work. Suddenly, John hit something. "Please don't be a boy," John hoped. He got out of his car to check. It was a girl who looked to be around 12 or 13. "Oh shit, not again!" John exclaimed. John called 911 immediately. Unfortunately, John got a call at work later that day that the girl he had hit died. Witnesses at the scene had stated that they were confused at John's exclamation. After John left work, he visited the girl's parents and sent his condolences. Wanting to at least have something a little bit different, John asked his wife to cook chicken for dinner that night. "But you always have steak for dinner every Tuesday," she said. John insisted that he have something different for dinner, and his wife gave in. After his chicken dinner, John went to bed.

Again, it was 6:30 in the morning, and John was about to wake up. He prayed for today to be different. He did his daily routine, got dressed, and headed to work. Instead of his car, however, John rode a bike to work. The bike he chose had faulty brakes, but John figured that wasn't a big deal. While he was cycling, John noticed someone ahead of him walking with his son. He signaled for him to move out of the way, but the guy didn't pay attention. John tried to swerve out of his way, but he ended up crashing into the guy. "Why does this keep happening to me!?" John shouted. At that time, he noticed something unusual about the boy. He looked like the same boy he would've hit if he were driving his car. John was too busy trying to comprehend what had happened over the past few days to call 911. The boy's father ended up cracking his skull and fell into a coma. John apologized for the thousandth time for what had happened. John's boss had heard what had happened and John's reaction to the situation. He gave John a vacation. John decided to spend his free time watching TV. He didn't really pay attention to what he watched until an emergency news broadcast came on. The newswoman said, "Scientists have determined that a local town is being affected by a temporal loop, as evidenced by the events involving a resident named John Smith." John knew it had to make sense. He spent several hours researching and piecing together how the temporal loop worked and how to stop it. He missed dinner. Around 11:15 at night, John fell asleep.

John woke up at 6:30 in the morning to find that all of his hard work was gone. Determined to beat the loop, John stayed in bed and tried to fall asleep. Later, he woke up more well-rested than ever before. The time read 7:44. John's wife found him and asked, "Shouldn't you be at work?" John finally snapped. He replied, "It doesn't matter! None of it matters! We're doomed to repeat the same day forever and ever!" He ran out laughing maniacally. John's wife was confused when she heard a crash. She stepped outside and screamed at what she saw. John had been hit by a car. He was rushed to the hospital. When John woke up, he saw the boy he would've run over. He started screaming, "No! No! Get away from me! I'm dangerous! You're not safe! None of you are safe!" One of the nurses gave John some tranquilizer, and he fell asleep. When he woke up, John was given a mental evaluation and found to be insane. He was sent to a mental institution far away, never to be seen again.

20 years later, John's daughter Kim was going through her parents' stuff and found an old family photo photo. She noticed something interesting: she looked only about 5 years younger than she did now, but the photo was taken 25 years ago. Kim took note of this and started investigating why. She found a newspaper from 20 years ago. Upon reading it, she found that Big Business Corporation enacted a time loop in a small town and affected everyone in a one-mile radius. Something about the town seemed familiar... She realized that the town in the article was her hometown! Kim continued reading. "Reports say that affected people will live every day of their lives exactly the same way, but the realization of any person affected that he or she is living in a time loop may cause insanity." That explained why she never appeared to age, but it didn't explain why her life wasn't a monotonous chore. Suddenly, it hit Kim: the day the article was published was the day she moved to the city. She figured that her exposure to the time loop wasn't long enough for her to be affected by it. Kim decided to become a scientist to figure out how to reverse the time loop once and for all. Despite the efforts of her and her fellow scientists, however, Kim has not figured out how to reverse it. However, Kim hopes that someday, she will free the residents of her hometown from the boring loop that has become their lives.