Where Is Evryone?

3.

Groaning as she woke up to the loud alarm she had set, which happened to be her once-favorite song. It's true, never set your favorite song as an alarm.

Dragging herself out of bed, Ashley felt the familiar heaviness in her limbs. Being a cafe owner has never been easy for her, and today was no exception. From the very beginning, her family had been supportive of her dream to open a cafe. Her sister, Ava, had even helped her settle and open Roover's.

After a few months of successfully running Roover's as a cafe, Ashley came up with the idea of making it multi-functional. Thus, she turned it into a cafe-cum-restaurant, which she proudly called a 'Cafstaurant.'

Thinking about another hectic day ahead at Roover's left her with a mix of excitement and dread. Even after a year of managing the place, she couldn't quite get used to the demanding routine, although her love for cooking and baking never waned.

After Ashley unplugged her phone from the charger, she made her way towards the attached bathroom in her room. Positioned to the left of her room, the bathroom door awaited her. While getting ready, she mentally listed all the supplies that needed restocking and the chores she had to complete.

Initially, her Cafstaurant idea had flourished, but over time, it became increasingly challenging to manage both a cafe and a restaurant under one roof. The investment required, both financially and in terms of time and energy became too much for her.

Nonetheless, she's still running Roover's as a place where customers could enjoy a warm cup of coffee with a snack or indulge in a full-course meal. Her eventual plan was to shut down Roover's and start all over again in a different city, better and stronger, and she will do it one day. Call her plan far-fetched, but Ashley firmly believed in dreaming big or call her indecisive, personally she thought of making plans as dreamy as possible, there's always a way, atleast according to her.

"Eight-fifteen," she read off the wallclock hung a few inches above the calendar she had hung on the right side of the room upon entering.

All ready for the day she sat on the chair at her study table, placed to the left of her bed.She didn't buy bedside tables,she just thought of them as a place she'd stuff with useless things, and never tidy it up, she was pretty unorganised.

With everything prepared, she walked into the kitchen and grabbed an apple from the fridge. An apple seems to be the easiest thing to eat in her fridge right now-no need to peel or slice, just rinse and eat. Breakfast had never been her thing anyways.

Munching on the bright red apple in her right hand, she unlocked the door with her left. Before stepping outside, Ashley paused and took a deep breath, trying to get ready to leave her comfortable home. Going out into the noisy world was always a bother, and despite not being an introvert, she never felt pleased with how the world functioned. Not exactly an extrovert either.
Ashley considered herself an ambivert-a blend of both.

But wait, where are the noises today?
Until now she hadn't realized how quiet it was, she was too busy in her thoughts.

'Am I missing something? She thought as she stepped out of her house.

"Oh yes" she said aloud, as she surveyed her surroundings, everything seemed familiar, just as she had left it the night before.

"No wait, OH NO!"
Ashley almost shouted, taking in the situation.
The memories of the day before flooded back
coming back home,
traffic jam,
No yelling, no honking,
No one,
The accident,
The black car she can home in last night,
The silence.
Damn.

She stood there, clutching the straps of her bag tightly, her brain went blank.

Stunned.

______________________________________