Another Life, Another World, Another Ending

Daniel sat at the breakfast table, staring at his untouched plate of toast and eggs. The house was filled with the usual Monday morning chaos, his mom rushing to get ready for work, his dad skimming the newspaper, Emily humming a song while scrolling through her phone.

It was all so normal.

But he felt like a ghost sitting among them.

Because somewhere, somewhen—he had just felt like he watched his real wife and daughter disappear into nothing.

Everything seems always real, like he lost something important that he will never get back.

His mom's voice pulled him out of his daze.

"You're not eating," she said, eyeing him with concern. "You feeling sick?"

Daniel forced himself to shake his head. "I'm fine."

A lie.

Nothing was fine.

Because this wasn't just one weird dream anymore. It had happened twice. Two lives, two full existences, gone in an instant.

And he had a horrible, sinking feeling that this was only the beginning.

*****

At school, Daniel felt like an outsider in his own life.

The halls were too bright, the voices of students too loud. Conversations drifted past him—complaints about homework, weekend gossip, plans for the next football game.

None of it felt real.

Because how could he care about math tests and lunch menus when he had memories of an entire life—when he could still hear Lily's laugh, still feel Sophia's hand in his, still see the horror in their eyes as the world collapsed around them?

His grip on his locker tightened.

Breathe.

In. Out.

He had to act normal. No one would believe him if he tried to explain. Hell, he barely believed it himself.

But he couldn't ignore the truth anymore.

This wasn't random. This was a pattern.

And if it happened twice…

It would happen again.

Daniel decided to test it.

During lunch, he sat with Marcus, picking at his food.

"Dude, you okay?" Marcus asked, mouth full of fries. "You look like you haven't slept in days."

Daniel hesitated. He couldn't tell him everything. But maybe... a piece of it?

"I keep having these dreams," he said carefully. "Really vivid ones. Like, entire lifetimes."

Marcus grinned. "Dude, that's kinda awesome. Free VR simulation every weekend."

Daniel didn't laugh.

"It's not fun," he muttered. "It's... real. Like, I wake up and still feel everything. The people, the memories... And then the world just—" He snapped his fingers. "Gone."

Marcus raised an eyebrow. "We talking Inception levels of weird here, or, like, straight-up alternate dimensions?"

Daniel hesitated.

Maybe both.

"I don't know. But I think it's gonna happen again."

Marcus shoved another fry into his mouth. "Then try lucid dreaming, dude. If you know it's a dream, maybe you can control it."

Daniel froze.

That was actually... a good idea.

If this wasn't just some weird subconscious thing, if he was really living different lives, then maybe, just maybe, he could figure out how to change it.

But first, he had to survive the next one.

Because the next time he fell asleep on a Friday night...

He had no idea where or who he was going to be.