Short Breaks 1-20 - Complete

Day 376

"Pete and repeat, sitting in a tree... K I S S I N G..."

I'm listening to the children sing the nonsense song, for the 376th time. Not that they sing it that much. No. I'm listening again because I'm stuck in a time loop.

I always thought that movie, "Groundhog Day" – you know the one with Bill Murray where he repeats the same day again and again – was always a good bit of fiction. That was until it became my reality.

My day begins like any other; I wake up tired. I'm supposed to get up and go to work, but I gave that up in favor of going back to bed about a month in.

After sleeping until I'm rested, I get up and go out for coffee. I've learned to avoid the cat, black of course, that darts out into the road. I've also learned to stop at the stop sign and simply wave at the cop as he goes by. He always gives me an odd look.

One day, I flipped him off. That day did not end well.

Once I get to the coffee shop, I sidestep the man paying more attention to his phone than his coffee. At first, I tended to order something different every day, just to sample the menu. But, after a while, I went back to my favorite of black coffee and apple turnover.

Then, I head to the book store. I sit for hours most days, reading. I've read a great many books over the last year. I've even cracked open a physics book or two, trying to remember what I've forgotten over the last twenty years. Maybe one day, I'll head over to the University and begin to ask questions.

My favorite days are when I go and have my hair done. I get it dyed outrageous colors and get hilarious cuts. It amuses me. I will skip the bookstore and go to the stylist in the morning, and then sit on a park bench in the afternoon watching people try not to stare. That's where I hear the kids.

The only think I have managed to do that is really meaningful, as of yet, is it to figure out how to keep time. I found, quite my accident, a journal in the bookstore that I can manage to keep with me. I'm glad I found it in the second week. I think I would have quickly stopped being able to keep track of the days had I not.

I have yet to figure out how to get out of this loop. I suppose at some point, I really do need to start really delving into the nature of time to see if, perhaps, there has been some kind of distortion there. Or maybe I should study the nature of consciousness and the mind and how we manifest our own reality. But, right now, this still kind of feels like vacation. So, I'll hang out a bit longer.