AUTHOR'S POV
The sun rose gently over the house.Birds chirped.A soft breeze blew.Peace filled the early morning air.
Inside the house, however…
It sounded like a dying zoo.
Jay's alarm went off at exactly 7 AM with a cheerful ringtone:
"GOOD MORNING BEAUTIFUL PEOPLEEEE!"
Jay shot up in bed like she was summoned by Satan.
"WHO—PUT—THAT—RINGTONE—ON—MY—PHONE?!"
In the next room, Lia shouted back,
"You did! LAST NIGHT! BECAUSE YOU SAID NORMAL ALARMS ARE TOO ANGRY!"
Jay groaned into his pillow.
"I was sleep-delusional. TURN IT OFF."
She crawled out of bed, fell on the floor, and stayed there for ten seconds contemplating running away into the forest.
Ion woke up because a chip was stuck to her cheek.
She peeled it off, stared at it, and muttered,
"Breakfast."
Angelo walked by the door half-awake and mumbled,
"That's unsanitary."
Ion: "You threw spaghetti cereal at the neighbor."
Angelo: "You're right. Carry on."
Cindy woke up first, groaned dramatically, and fell out of bed.
She dragged herself to the mirror and gasped.
"WHY DO I LOOK LIKE A DISGRACED ALIEN?"
Mira lifted her head from her pillow. "Because you slept with face glitter on, genius."
Cindy turned slowly…
Her entire cheek sparkled like a broken disco ball.
Mira laughed so hard she kicked her blanket off the bed.
Aries sat on the edge of the bed staring at the wall.
Rory filmed him. "Aries, how do you feel?"
"I feel like a microwaved potato."
"Deep."
"Turn the camera off or I will throw you out the window."
THE KITCHEN: Grandma Returns
The group dragged themselves into the kitchen one by one, like zombies from different horror movies.
Grandma was already there.
Doing yoga.
While drinking coffee.
Everyone stared.
Kairav whispered, "How is she alive?"
"She drank dragon caffeine yesterday," Lia whispered back.
"Oh right. That explains the immortality."
Keifer opened the refrigerator.
And immediately screamed.
"WHO PUT THE SMOKE DETECTOR IN HERE?!"
Everyone turned to Ion.
Ion shrugged. "I wanted it to cool down."
Ella appeared, holding the broom like she hadn't moved all night.
"I SWEAR I'LL HIT SOMEONE TODAY."
Lorenzo clapped his hands cheerfully.
"Okay guys! I will make REAL breakfast to make up for yesterday!"
"NO!" everyone yelled.
Too late.
He cracked eggs into a bowl.
Jay watched from the table, horrified.
"Lorenzo… why are you—why are you putting ORANGE JUICE in the eggs?!"
"Extra flavor!"
"No—NO—THAT IS NOT A FLAVOR."
Ella took the bowl from him and threw it in the sink without breaking eye contact.
"Sit," she commanded.
Lorenzo sat.
Silently.
The First Disaster of the Morning
Rory opened the curtains to let sunlight in.
He screamed.
Everyone screamed because he screamed.
Rory pointed outside.
Everyone rushed to the window.
Cindy gasped.
Mira clutched her face.
Ion whispered something unholy.
Outside in the front yard…
On the grass…
Was a mountain.
A literal mountain of sticky notes.
Lorenzo's sticky notes.
Thousands of them.
The whole front yard was covered in yellow squares with the word "SORRY" written 400 times.
Lia: "Lorenzo… did you…"
Lorenzo looked confused.
"I only remember writing one."
Jay: "YOU SLEEPWALKED AND APOLOGIZED TO THE WHOLE UNIVERSE."
Ella stepped outside barefoot and immediately got stuck to the sticky-note field.
"OH COME ON!"
Ion filmed her. "It's the Sticky Swamp of Regret."
Ella glared. "Ion, put your phone down."
"No."
"PUT IT DOWN."
"No."
"ION—"
"No."
The Second Disaster of the Morning
Just when they finished removing sticky notes from the yard, the neighbor's dog ran over…
And stole Aries' slipper.
Aries chased it across the street screaming,
"COME BACK HERE, YOU CRIMINAL!"
Rory recorded it for "scientific purposes."
The dog won.
Aries returned barefoot and defeated.
Jay patted his shoulder. "At least it didn't steal your dignity."
"It stole that too," Aries muttered.
The Final Disaster Before Noon
Everyone gathered in the living room to finally relax.
To breathe.
To exist like normal humans.
Then—
CRASH.
Something shattered upstairs.
Mira yelled,
"WHAT WAS THAT?!"
They ran upstairs.
And found—
Lexi.
On the floor.
Covered in glitter.
Surrounded by five broken bowls.
Jay: "LEXI, WHAT—HOW—WHY?!"
Lexi pointed at the shelf.
"I opened it. And everything fell. But I'm fine!!"
Cindy: "You're literally SPARKLING."
Lexi smiled proudly.
"Thank you."
Ella covered her face.
"I can't do this anymore."
Finally… The Actual End of the Morning
By 11:30 AM, the group gave up.
No one cleaned.
No one cooked.
No one talked.
They all collapsed in the living room like a dead choir.
Grandma Lora walked past them, sipping her coffee.
"You children are weak," she said.
Jay didn't even open her eyes.
"We know, Grandma."
Ella whispered, "Can this day not get worse?"
Ion: "Don't say that—"
Cindy: "Yeah don't—"
Jay: "Stop—"
Ella: "Oh come on, like what else can—"
A lightbulb in the hallway flickered.
Buzzed.
And exploded.
The group screamed in perfect harmony.
Ella: "I TAKE IT BACK—SORRY—PLEASE UNIVERSE—STOP—"
Lia pulled her blanket over her head.Aries lay face-down on the carpet.Rory filmed it all.Mira gave up on consciousness.Ion whispered, "Why are we alive?"Cindy curled into a ball.Jay accepted death.
And that…
Was the official beginning of their next morning.