Maybe it was the low air pressure and the pouring rain, but today Stephanie just didn’t want to exist anymore. She wasn’t suicidal, just … beyond exhaustion. Every hobby she used to enjoy had lost its charm over the last year. Instead, they had become both boring and repetitive, like there was no purpose to it anymore. Her engineering job that she had dreamed to get – and dedicated so much time to study for – had become a homogeneous routine, and she had no chance of getting a higher position or a higher salary without burning herself out. Just like George – her former coworker – had done.

Her body had started to deteriorate little by little, with a new pain point popping up in a new place just as she had finished treating the previous one. It was like she was trying to maintain an 80 year old house, but instead it was only her 30 year old body, which wasn’t encouraging.

She rarely saw her friend group anymore, at most three times a year and only one friend every other week. But it was to be expected since almost everyone had their own family at this point, or were busy with their own lives. And her own family was no better. Her sister was having the time of her life in university and all her time went into studying, working, and hanging out with friends – in that order. Her parents meanwhile were either at work or at home in front of the TV watching reality TV shows. And just the bad shows. There was more juicy drama in the bad shows they said.

40 years to retirement. 40 more years of the same bullshit day after day, putting all her energy into just existing and maintaining herself. Her only reprieve was watching animal documentaries and animal rescue videos at night before she went to sleep. What was the point of it? Was this really all she could get from life at this point? These thoughts had become a routine for Steph while she was driving home over the last few months, gradually growing deeper and darker. There wasn’t much else to do while stuck in traffic for an hour after leaving work. And no, podcasts didn’t help. Just endless blathering about uninteresting opinions about uninteresting things. If anything, it just made her fall deeper into hopelessness.

“I just don’t get how you do it Helen,” Steph said into the speakerphone in her car. “How can you work a full time job, be a good mother, be a good wife, keep yourself healthy, and keep an orderly and clean home, all at the same time? Were you genetically enhanced as a child?”

                  Helen just laughed. Steph felt weird hearing her laughter booming out the speakers in her car. It was almost like listening to God laughing at you.

                  “What can I say, I’m just that great. And it also helps to have a continuous caffeine high throughout the day. And a constant IV drip.”

                  Steph chuckled at that. She’d probably try the IV drip if she could.

                  Helen continued. “But for real though, I couldn’t do this without Andrew. We are a team, and we switch errands between ourselves and cover each other when we are feeling overwhelmed. And we also get a lot of help from my parents and Andrew’s siblings. We would have lost our minds years ago without their help.”

                  “Yeah, I get that, kinda. It’s just … I’m just taking care of myself, and I already feel like I’m drowning. And I’m not just lazing on the couch. I do Pilates, I eat healthy, I regularly use my treadmill at home. But still, I’m always feeling like I have low energy … and I can barely get myself to get out of the house. I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.”

                  “Yeah, that’s not good. What did the doctor say, you met him yesterday right?”

                  “Oh yeah, that dinosaur. He said the blood test was all normal and that it was probably hormonal. He then told me to just take some ibuprofen to feel better, and then sent me on my way. Like really, that’s all the help that I can get?” Steph said, sounding defeated.

                  “Damn, that fucking sucks. Fuck that dinosaur. Not literally though.” Helen replied.

                  Steph was not mad at the dinosaur though. Being mad required energy, energy she didn’t have. And she had become used to hitting roadblocks when asking for help, so she had just come to expect them.

                  “You know you cooooourrrsssshhhhhhh…” The phone call suddenly became static, and then came an annoying high pitch noise with the static.

                  “Helen, can you hear me? You are cutting out on my end” Steph shouted into the dashboard, feeling like that would help Helen hear her better.

                  The static lowered, but the high pitch noise continued. “You know, you deserve a treat after all of this” Helen suddenly said. “I know a coffee shop near you that you should try. I’ll send you instructions on how to get there.”

                  The static disappeared, and the high pitch noise cut out as well.

                  “It was nice catching up with you as well Steph. I need to go and pick up the kids. Good luck with everything. Ok byeeee!” Helen said, and hung up.

                  That was an abrupt ending to the call. Steph also wanted to ask Helen about the coffee shop, but decided to just send her a message when she got home. But it was strange, Helen hated coffee and only drank energy drinks for her caffeine addiction. How did she know about this coffee shop? Why had she recommended it to her?

                  While Steph was thinking, the navigation system of the car suddenly popped up. The system was now directing her to a new destination, to the coffee shop.

                  “Huh. I didn’t know Helen could do this.” Steph said to herself out loud.

She thought that maybe Helen was still connected to the cars system after she gave her a ride last week. But regardless, some coffee and a blueberry cupcake did sound heavenly right about now. And since it had come as a recommendation from Helen it must be exceptionally good. She doesn’t often recommend places to eat.

It took almost 20 minutes, but Steph finally arrived at the coffee shop. But it wasn’t what she was expecting. In front of her stood a small red hut, with a white door and white windows. The windows had flowerpots hanging beneath them. In front of her sat a paved path toward the hut, surrounded by a beautiful field filled with beautiful flowers in all shapes and colours. She could see bees wandering about the field collecting their nectar.

                  Steph was kind of stumped. On one hand, the position of this coffee shop was very strange. It was at the bottom of a busy street with other businesses, but no one else was at this coffee shop. But on the other hand, this was the cutest little coffee shop she had ever seen. And she loved the field of flowers. The flowers were waving in the mild summer wind, looking like an ocean of colours. The sun seemed to be shining extra bright over the field.

                  Steph walked down the paved path and up to the doors of the hut. There was a sign on the door that read “OPEN”, but when she looked through the window and into the interior of the shop, she couldn’t see anyone inside. She gingerly opened the door and went inside, feeling like she was breaking into some one’s home instead of entering a coffee shop. The interior was surprisingly big compared to how small the hut was. There were four booths to the left, six small tables in the middle, with a pair of chairs each, and a bar table to the right with loads of coffee related machinery and products on display. It didn’t seem to be a particularly practical set up for coffee making though. But the interior was very cozy, with furniture that looked like they came from an old British library, and a warm lighting from well-placed lamps around the room, and small candles on each table. And then there was the heavenly smell permeating the place. The smell of roasted coffee beans and freshly baked cakes, even though she couldn’t see any cakes on display. Steph would never call this her personal heaven, but she did find it to be exceptionally calming and comforting environment, and just what she needed today.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

                  She spotted the register at the end of the bar table and walked towards it. There was no one around there either. She spotted a bell though. Definitely for calling for service. Understandable since there were no customers around. No need for staying at the register if there was nothing to do. Steph didn’t see any pricelist or menu either. But it didn’t matter, she knew what she wanted, and right now she wanted a Cappuccino with a double shot of espresso and a blueberry muffin. She rang the bell.

                  The ringing of the bell echoed throughout the coffee shop like it was a god damn church bell. And it had a familiar high pitch noise emanating from it as well. The loud noise scrambled her head so much that she felt like she was losing her footing. She looked down so she could get her bearings, but then she saw that she wasn’t losing her footing, she was floating. She was floating in the air.

                  “What the fuck is…”

                  There came a rumbling above Steph, and she looked up. The roof was opening up above her, showing a bare night sky above her. But it couldn’t be possible be night already, the sun was still way up when she went inside.

Stars and nebulas lit up the night sky above her, and then slowly started to swirl around. And then faster, and faster, until it was like the heart of a hurricane. A hurricane of stars.

                  “WHAT THE FUCK!!!”

                  Steph suddenly felt like she was being pulled upwards – like she was connected to a string – and then shot up into the hurricane of stars. She screamed as she flew upwards. She felt like she was on top of a plane, but there wasn’t any wind, just overwhelming G-force. The stars blasted past her, and sometimes a whole galaxy came flying past. She was starting to feel sick. She tried to turn herself around and struggle against the invisible force that was pulling her, but nothing worked. She just flailed around helplessly, and continued to fly unrelentingly forward into space itself.

After about a minute of flying – and screaming – everything stopped, and Steph was left floating in the emptiness of space.

Thank God that was over she thought. She breathed heavily. Why could she breathe in space? She couldn’t feel any air around her. There wasn’t any heat or cold either, just emptiness. She was still feeling sick though, and she was going to throw up soon. Her mouth started to flow with saliva.

                  She suddenly felt a pressure on her stomach, like she was being touched. No, she was being poked. But as soon as that happened, she didn’t feel sick anymore, and she no longer felt like she was going to throw up.

She looked down towards her stomach but saw nothing. There was nothing there touching her. No wait, there was something there. There were tiny stars swirling around. She bent herself forward, looking closer towards her stomach. And then she saw it. A sort of a black tentacle, with what looked like stars swirling inside it, and it was poking her in her stomach.

Steph panicked and tried to grab the tentacle – or whatever it was – but her hand just moved through the tentacle like it was empty space.

“What the hell? GET AWAY FROM ME!!!” Steph screamed as she continued to try and slap the tentacle away from her, but nothing worked. She wasn’t in pain, but it wasn’t pleasant having a tentacle touching you.

Another poke, this time on her forehead. Steph looked up immediately. There was another tentacle poking her head now. Before she could panic more over this new tentacle, she saw something else. Above her there were more stars swirling. She couldn’t see why at first, but then she started to see the outlines of what was in front of her. It was a giant black creature that was looming over her, with loads of sparkling stars inside of it. No face or body, just a big undulating mass.

“Huh” Steph said out loud, with a hint of curiosity. But wait, just a huh. Was that really all she had to say over this? Why wasn’t she freaking out anymore? She was as cool as a cucumber. She was peaceful. Why was that?

She looked up towards the tentacle that was touching her forehead. The stars in the tentacle were not just swirling, but pulsating, slowly and steadily. They looked like blinking Christmas lights.

Could the tentacle be calming her down, like a sedative. The animal rescuers she watched on TV often used sedatives to calm down a captured wounded animal. But she didn’t feel sedative, just calm. And she wasn’t a wounded animal. Was she?

She tried grabbing the tentacle anyway, just to see what would happen. It was just like the other tentacle, her hands just moved right through it. Though with a hint of a distortion, like when you put your hand underwater. Weird.

Steph noticed that the black creature – whatever it was – was approaching her. Inside the creature the stars started to swirl around faster. More tentacles sprouted from the mass of the creature, and started to slowly approach her.

“Oh-oh.” Steph said out loud, but was still calm. Feeling like it was something she should say in response to what she was seeing.

Each and every tentacle started to gently poke her in different spots. Several on her arms and feet, more on her torso, and a few more on her head. Two tentacles poked her on the bottom of hear feet, going through the soles of her shoes like they weren’t even there.

“NOOO! OH GOD NO, THAT TICKLES!” Steph screamed while laughing.

The tentacles on the bottom of her feet moved to her heals instead.

“Oh, thank you.” Steph said involuntarily, staring at the creature, and surprised at the reaction.

There came a short but deep “OM” sound from the creature. The stars in it gently flashed with the sound. Was it responding to her?

The stars in all of the tentacles started to flash and swirl around. Steph felt heat starting to flow into her body. She didn’t know what was going on, and she honestly felt she was being way to calm over this whole ordeal. But all those worries melted away as an overwhelming sense of calm and comfort washed over her. It almost felt like she was receiving the deepest and most comfortable massage she had ever received, while being inside a sauna. The most perfect relaxation, that is what she was experiencing.

Steph looked up toward the creature and watched as the stars flowed through it. She could barely keep herself awake as the experience continued. She couldn’t even tell how much time had passed. Had she been there for 10 minutes, an hour, multiple hours? But honestly, she couldn’t care less at this point. Whatever, or whoever this creature was, it was apparent that it didn’t mean her any harm. And it also seemed that it wanted her to feel comfortable in its care. Truth be told, if Steph could remain there forever, she would.

After a while, the tentacles stopped poking Steph and withdrew into its mass. Was the process over? How long had she been there at this point?

                  Steph looked up towards the creature, and the creature came closer towards her. It gave another deep “OM” sound, and its internal stars gently flashed.

                  Steph just smiled and said “Thank you so much.”

                  At that said the creature straightened itself out, if it had a straight form that is. Its outline and stars started to merge with the space behind it, and the stars started to sparkle. Wow the stars were more beautiful than ever.

                  Steph felt like she was gently floating downward, and the hurricane of stars started to swirl up around her. This time it lasted only a few seconds before she was down inside the coffee shop again, and the roof above her closed back up.

                  In a blink of an eye, she was suddenly outside in the daylight, standing in the middle of the field of flowers. She turned around towards the coffee shop, but it was gone. Like it had never been there to begin with. There were just more colourful flowers.

                  She just stood there for a moment, stunned, contemplating what had just happened. Even though that had been an overwhelming, almost an eldritch experience, she felt great. Actually, she felt fantastic.

She sighed and stretched. Wait, that was a surprisingly pain-free stretch. She then put her hands on her hips and started to swirl her hip around, testing her flexibility. It was better than it had ever been. She then jumped in place a few times as well.

“I don’t feel any pain anymore. I feel full of energy again.” Steph said out loud to herself, absolutely stunned. She didn’t know exactly what the creature had done, but it was clear that the creature had healed her body. She felt like a teenager again, light, strong and springy. She also just felt mentally well, like the thundercloud that had hanged over her for so long had just disappeared.

Steph felt something on her wrist. As she looked down on her right hand, she saw an armband. She hadn’t had an armband before. It was a modest and thin silver armband, wrapped tight around her wrist, but not too tight. She actually could barely feel that it was there. Was this perhaps some sort of a tracking tag, like scientist put on rehabilitated animals that are released back into their wild habitat?

She felt conflicted about that, and a bit uncomfortable. But then again, the animals she had watched get rehabilitated probably felt as strange about their rescue as well. Maybe there was an alien audience that had watched her get rescued.

She was still surprisingly calm over everything. Hopefully when that calmness wore off it wouldn’t break her brain to remember what had happened. But all in all, this rejuvenation left Steph feeling thankful for what had happened. Even though she knew no one would ever believe her.

Stephanie looked up towards the bright blue sky and took a deep breath. She wondered what else might be out there. The universe had surprised her, and had become much more exciting and promising for her. She smiled, turned back towards her car, put on her favourite song, and sang along as she drove home. Her head was swirling with new ideas.