Ethan woke up in the middle of the night due to some noises. He was in front of his computer, paperwork littering the desk, as messy as ever. He let out a weary sigh as he reached for his coffee mug and took a sip. He realized he had been overworking himself since he started his job at Tech Solutions Inc. With another heavy sigh, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, reminding himself that he needed to push through the exhaustion. When he opened his eyes back, he noticed an unfamiliar piece of paper in the corner of his eyes. His eyebrows furrowed in curiosity as he picked it up and slowly unrolled it. He saw hastily scrawled words written very small: "A burglar will break into your house. Go hide in the closet."
Ethan furrowed his brows, thinking this must be some silly, stupid prank. He crumpled the envelope and tossed it into the trash bin. Just then, he heard the sound of breaking glass and a window shattering, causing his eyes to widen. Remembering the note, he began to believe it might be true. Hearing footsteps approaching his room, he quickly stood up from his chair, opened the closet, and hid inside. As he crouched there, he noticed a light shining at the back of the closet. He wondered if he was seeing things. After all, he just woke up. After a few moments, he peeked out from the closet and saw someone in his chair, and there was still no burglar.
Confused yet relieved, he exited the closet and surveyed his surroundings. He got closer to his desk and the mysterious person sitting at his desk. He looked at the sleeping person's face. He saw that it was... his. He took a few steps back in shock at the sight. Was that him? Had he gone back in time? Sure enough, Ethan looked at the clock on the wall and it was 12:05. Then, a sense of urgency washed over him, and an idea came to mind—what if he could warn his past self? Quickly, he grabbed a small piece of paper from his past self's desk and began writing, placing the note into a new envelope for his past self, mimicking what had happened to him, what he'd experienced, what his possible future self did. He could only hope it would make a difference. Then, he slowly walked to the door, hoping to not wake his past self up. As he opened it, the door creaked loudly. Ethan shook as he opened it further. Once the door was opened just enough, Ethan quickly dived out. He breathed out in relief. He got himself back up and began walking slowly to the stairs. Then, a shadow appeared on the window next to him. Ethan panicked, thinking that it was the burglar. He grabbed a flower pot and threw it into the window, making a loud crescendo as the glass broke apart and shattered into a million pieces. Then, just as Ethan went to check if the burglar was there, a loud thud sounded of a door slamming shut.
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Ethan started walking back to the door slowly. He approached the door and hovered over the handle to open it, but before he could, he began to hear loud thumping footsteps from behind it. Ethan, as paranoid as he was, twisted the door handle to its max and pushed the door open quickly. To his shock, a bloodied man, holding a sharp piece of glass stood in the shadow of the room. Ethan froze, unsure of what to do. Should he run or fight? Then, as the other mysterious man stepped closer, Ethan chose the latter and rushed towards the man, not even looking up. Ethan tackled the man to the floor and redirected the sharp glass in the man's hand to his throat, piercing it. Blood began to pour out. Then, Ethan saw the man's face. It was... his. Ethan's face turned into an expression of confusion and horror. He stood up from the other Ethan's lifeless body, his hands now bloody. Ethan dropped the sharp shard of glass to the floor. He was speechless. He put his hands up his head, cowering in fear and contemplating what he's done.
After a while, Ethan regained his composure and decided to go back in time for a second time. He went into the closet once more and hoped for the best. Then, a few moments passed and Ethan went out of the closet. He looked up at the clock on the wall. It was 12:18, another 10 minutes into the past. Then, Ethan looked at the desk and saw that there was no one in the chair. Then, he walked to the window of the room. The reflection from the moon shone in, giving some light, aside from the light from the lamp. As he loudly stepped to the window, he heard the sound of the door handle turning. As panicked and paranoid as Ethan was, he turned around quickly to see the door opening and revealing another version of himself. Another past Ethan. The current Ethan froze in fear. And then, the other Ethan rushed towards him, too fast for him to react and the next thing he knew, his throat was stabbed. He watched in horror in his last moments in life as the other Ethan's face turned to horror, just as he'd experienced a few minutes prior, blurry as his life was slowly fading away. Ethan accepted his fate.
The End