The cheery outro of the cartoons played as Diann's eyes fluttered close, her mouth opening in a long yawn as she seemed to give in to the drowsiness, “Do you want me to carry you?” I asked as I softly shook her.

She grunted softly, her arms lazily trying to wrap around me, one of her hazel eyes opening into a slit, begging me, before closing again.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I warmly said in a low voice, getting out of her arms, I got up from the sofa.

After turning off the TV, I tenderly picked her up, making sure that she was comfortable before starting to walk.

Her head was leaning against my chest while her brown curls fell like a cascade of soft, bouncy ribbons.

The living room was still a mess, multicolored blocks spread everywhere, together a mix of multiple dolls of different styles that made inhabitants of the city now claiming almost every corner of the place, and I was gonna be the one cleaning this.

Going past the dirty plates and pans piled in the sink and the table still stained from Diann's messy eating, I went to the small corridor that led to the rooms. Diann’s room was the first door. Even in the dim light that spilled from the kitchen, the door stood out, filled from top to bottom with an array of various stickers. The door opened with a soft creak.

At this point, I could hear Diann’s faint snoring.

The walls of her room were mostly filled with different posters, some bought while others either she or I got from going to conventions. Her study table was on touching the feet of the bed, nestling against the wall. On top of it was her small collection of plushies, some toys could also be seen peeking from under the bed. This was using most of the available space in the room, we would have to move in a few years to a bigger place.

After gently placing Diann on her bed and covering her with a 'Bruno The Engineer' blanket, I kissed her forehead and stepped out of the room.

“G’naiight, Mommy.” The muffled and slurred good night slipped out of Diann as the door closed.

“Nigh-Night, Pancake,” I said in a low voice, pressing my ear against the door, and only after I heard snoring did I turn around.

The apartment was mostly silent, only the constant sounds from the streets staying as the constant. Looking at the kitchen small kitchen, the table for four taking most of the available space forced the stove and refrigerator to be crammed against the corner. Above the sink, the clock showed ‘9:38 PM’.

“There's time.”

Collecting the toys took longer than expected, the things seemed to manifest out of thin air when I thought I was done, but in the end, everything was organized in the corner of the room beside the blinds.

Before closing the blinds, I gazed into the distance, trying to peek into the disaster shown in the news. I knew that the place was quite a few kilometers away, but I still felt a need to try. Without noticing I was frozen, forgetting to even breathe.

After breaking free from the spell cast by my own mind, I glanced at the kitchen, the clock now saying ‘10:49 PM.’

My eyes felt heavy, and my body seemed encased in lead, but I resisted the drowsiness for a few more moments, even as the sofa whispered sweet nothings in my ears, trying to lure me to fall asleep under its newly bought cushions.

I stayed indecisive for a few more moments, indulging in its feathery stuffed touch, before finally getting up with a loud groan.

My room was at the far end of the corridor, it would take only a few steps to get there, but right now it felt infinitely far away, but I somehow got there. The only special thing about my door was the markings on the doorframe marking Diann’s height over the years, with the tallest one marked ‘1,20’. The room was mostly bare, the wardrobe stuck to one of the corners and Brutus’s bed taking the most space.

A pile of clothes formed a small hill in the bed, which Brutus decided to use as his bed today, “Sorry, witlle baby,” I softly grabbed Brutus’s face and snuggled it. He only did this when feeling sad or scared.

The only other thing in the room was my study table, along with a few books on the small bookshelf attached to it. The table and books came with the apartment; the previous tenant left them behind and didn't seem interested in retrieving them. After a brief phone call, he simply told me to keep them for myself.

Taking a seat at the table and plugging my notebook charger into the outlet, I rubbed my eyes and let out a long, drawn-out yawn. Pushing the need to sleep as far from me as I could as I opened the notebook, its light blinding me momentarily before dark mode could take over.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Greeting me was the headline of a news article, bold and unnerving. "City in Ruin Overnight." Below it, a smaller subtitle, "Mass Disappearances and Supernatural Events: The New Normal?"

Sighing, I glanced over at my bed, where Brutus still lay curled up on the pile of laundry, blissfully unaware of the world. Letting out another yawn, I shifted in my seat, steeling myself for the night ahead. This wasn't the first time I'd go down this rabbit hole, and it surely wouldn't be the last.

I didn't know if this was healthy, but there was something about reading these news articles and lurking on obscure blogs, for some reason it helped soothe the anxiety. As I started to read, the article detailed the sudden collapse of buildings in a small town, with no apparent cause, followed by security camera footage showing a person vanishing into thin air.

I scrolled past the initial articles, diving deeper into the collection of reports and personal accounts that spanned the globe, slowly forcing any signs of tiredness away from my mind. These... Phenomena, as they're called by most people, didn't happen just here; the whole world was experiencing them.

At a remote village in Russia, entire forests were reported to bow simultaneously, as if an invisible, colossal being passed through, commanding respect from nature itself. Embedded in the article about the Russian forest, there was a short video clip taken from a distance. The trees, tall and imposing, suddenly bent in unison. The air was filled with the creaking of wood as a local whispered something in Russian, before the subtitles appeared, "It's as if the earth itself breathes, and the trees respond to its call."

And then there was Africa, where villagers spoke of the night sky singing to them, the aurora borealis, far from its polar home, performing melodies that resonated with the soul. This time there was an entire interview with an elder of one of the tribes near the Phenomena, his face lined with wrinkles that spoke of years of wisdom. "The sky sings," he said, his voice a mix of wonder and reverence, "And in its song, we hear the stories of the stars, tales that have been whispered to us since the dawn of time."

In Brazil, the winds whispered names. People claimed to hear their secrets and deepest desires echoed back to them on the breeze, leading some to madness and others to revelations about their very existence. The air carried stories, tales of lives past and futures unseen, speaking directly to the hearts of those who listened. A video showed a crowded marketplace where the air suddenly filled with whispers. The camera operator turned in circles, trying to locate the source, but the sounds seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.

"We cannot explain how the wind carries these voices. It's as if the very air has gained consciousness, communicating directly with the people," A scientist, interviewed later in the clip, admitted.

But the strangeness didn't end there. In Japan, shadows danced in elaborate rituals on the sides of temples, creating patterns and forms that told stories older than the islands themselves. Witnesses spoke of feeling a deep connection to their ancestors as if the shadows bridged the gap between the living and the spirits of old.

Security footage showed the shadows of temple guardians beginning to move independently, performing what appeared to be an ancient ritual dance. The shadows twisted and turned against the physics of light, drawing symbols on the ground. A local historian watching the footage remarked, "These patterns, they're from legends, supposedly used in ceremonies to honor the spirits of our ancestors."

Europe wasn't spared, with reports from a small town in France of people falling into their own shadows, disappearing without a trace. And in Italy, individuals were found staring into water puddles, claiming to see other worlds, other lives being lived out in the reflection. Some were pulled in, never to resurface, while others came back with tales that bordered on the divine.

The video from France captured a man pausing mid-stride, his shadow stretching out before him and when he stepped into it, it sprung into life, covering him in a cocoon before disappearing, leaving nothing behind. Lastly, an Italian researcher shakily held his camera in one hand. "Watch," he urged, as the water's surface rippled without a breeze. The video zoomed in to show the puddle's depths revealing a cityscape. "It's not a reflection but a window," the researcher whispered. "To where, or when, we cannot yet understand."

Then there were the unaccounted miracles, scattered across the globe: individuals waking up with profound enlightenment, speaking languages they had never learned, understanding the universe's secrets, and in some cases, predicting events with uncanny accuracy.

With each one of the articles, obscure blogs, old interviews, and another thousand multitudes of obscure websites that I browsed through, the less drowsy and tired I felt, my mind racing with a thousand separate thoughts. Was there even any sense to all of this? It was like the world had gone mad.

If this is the new reality, how many of the old tales were real? There were already signs of cults springing up all over the world, worshipping all types of things. It's as if people are searching for meaning and purpose in this changing world, turning to belief systems and practices that may have been dismissed or erased in the past.

I'm not religious, but maybe it was time to consider it. With everything that's happening, who's to say that an afterlife doesn't exist? It does feel strange to think about religion now. This isn't the first time I've thought about it, but it feels strangely like looking at retirement options. It's like searching for a religion that offers a satisfying afterlife.

I'd never considered myself particularly religious, but recent events made me wonder if it was time to reconsider. With everything that's happening, who's to say there isn't something beyond? It's a strange notion, to contemplate religion now. This isn't the first time this line of thought crossed my mind, but it felt almost like browsing through options for an afterlife as if it were a resort.

At some point, I started to lean close to the screen, my eyes burned, and from my faintly visible reflection, I could see they were incredibly red. My back ached, and my neck felt incredibly stiff, trying to ease the cramped muscle, I moved my head from side to side and rotated my shoulders, wincing with every movement.

With a regretful sigh, I leaned back in the chair, rubbing my eyes. The clock on the desktop now reads '02:23 AM.' Feeling that the stiffness was present not only in my neck and back but in my whole body, I shifted in my seat, trying to find a more comfortable position, making sure to move my legs as they felt incredibly numb, I could feel the tingling from my feet to the base of my butt. As I rolled my shoulders and twisted my torso, I could feel the tension slowly easing away, albeit only slightly. Glancing at Brutus again, then back at the screen, I debated my next move, I do have an audition today, but...

Getting out of the chair, I walked with light steps to the kitchen and started brewing a cup of coffee. Otto did say that the job was practically guaranteed, it wouldn't hurt to indulge today.

While I waited for the water to boil I sat at the table, organizing myself mentally of the day ahead and processing everything that I read in the last few hours that flew by. Thoughts of visiting the countryside surfaced in my mind, it would do good for Diann to visit family and see her grandparents, uncles, and cousins.

My thoughts were halted when I finally noticed my cell phone almost jumping out of the table with how it vibrated.

Dazed by sleep, my body automatically picked up the call, "Hi, Didi."