I lowered the pen to the page.
My name is Benny Ford.
The words stared back at me.
I held them there for a second, then slowly drew a line through the sentence.
It didn't matter anymore.
Names only mean something when the world agrees to hear them. And this world had already decided who I was.
I inhaled, steadied my hand, and wrote again.
I don't know why I'm here.
But I know I'm not allowed to leave yet.
I don't know who Russell Reyes is either.
But I know he was a life left unfinished.
Whatever he'd been running from.
Whatever he'd been writing toward and never reached….
The universe hadn't erased him.
It had handed him to me.
And until I understood why…
until I found the reason buried underneath all this damage…
I would have to live this life completely.
I closed the notebook.
I finally understood the rules.
I couldn't convince anyone I wasn't Russell.
I couldn't escape this world by resisting it.
So I would stop fighting the role.
