The Click of Waiting

Opening Hook — The Countdown The clock didn’t tick anymore. It clicked.

Every sixty seconds, a harsh mechanical click echoed through the concrete room, followed by the

dull flicker of a single fluorescent tube overhead. The light didn’t stay on long—just

enough to remind Daniel he was still awake. Still alive. Still waiting.

The man in the next cell had stopped responding hours ago. Or days.

Daniel couldn’t tell anymore. Time had become elastic—stretching, collapsing,

losing meaning. Hunger clawed at his ribs. Cold gnawed through his bones.

The click sounded again. Daniel pressed his forehead against the wall and whispered,