Forty-Six Minutes in the Hallway

The security footage showed me walking into my apartment at 2:17 a.m. That was weird,

because I didn’t get home until 3. <break time="1.0s" /> At first I thought it was a glitch. Same hoodie,

same limp in my left leg, same keychain. But the timestamp didn’t change.

Then I noticed something worse. <break time="0.5s" /> The version of me on camera didn’t turn on the lights.

Didn’t check the mirrors. Didn’t go to bed. <break time="1.0s" /> He just stood in the hallway,

facing my bedroom door, completely still… for forty-six minutes. The footage ends

when my real self finally unlocks the door. And right before the screen cuts

to black, the hallway version of me slowly looks up at the camera… <break time="1.0s" /> like he knew I’d