The Night Everything Lost Sense

11. A strange occurrence

It was a strange morning.

Briar woke up before his alarm clock. Unlike usual, where he would jolt up awake, startled by the loud alarm, he slowly woke up. It was difficult to fight off sleep at the beginning. It reeled him back in. His head was locked against his pillow, gently sinking into the soft mass. Warmth embraced his body from all sides. He felt safe under his quilt and blankets. He felt content under their warmth – as if he were receiving a long loving hug. He didn't plan on getting out of bed before he hears his alarm. It was due to ring in 15 minutes or so, and he was depraved of sleep. However, just as he was about to roll to the other side of the bed and drift back into la-la land, he smelled a delicious aroma; freshly baked pancakes.

Briar's eyes fluttered open. He stared at his dark room. Since Briar began putting down blinds every night, the windows were blocked and barely let any sunlight slip past them. If he didn't see two feeble dots of light, that slipped through the blinds, shining on the wall, he would not believe that it is morning.

The dark atmosphere made it harder to wake up and get up from bed, but Briar forced himself. He ran his fingers through his dark hair and closed his eyes for a moment to regain consciousness. He smelled the aroma of pancakes again and his stomach loudly rumbled.

Briar rarely got to eat breakfast at home. His parents were busy with work in the morning and didn't have time to prepare a meal. That is why he always grabbed breakfast at the bakery with Seth; it was a habit that they picked up again after being apart for a few days. However, considering how rarely he got to eat homemade meals for breakfast, Briar decided to skip the bakery that day and eat at home.

He traveled downstairs groggily. The rest of the house basked in morning light. It was blinding him for the most part, but he rubbed his eyes and bravely continued his trek to the kitchen.

He stopped at the doorway and blankly stared at the empty kitchen. The room was cold. The smell was gone. Briar's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked around in search for his parents and breakfast.

"Mom?" he called out.

There was no response. It seemed as if he was home and alone and that nobody made breakfast. Briar stood confused. His arms began trembling as he hugged himself, trying his best to stay warm. He wandered off into the living room. "Dad?"

Nobody was home with him. All warmth and pleasant smells of family breakfasts were long gone. Was the smell of the pancakes only a dream? Briar couldn't tell. It seemed so real earlier, but now there was no trace of it ever existing.

The boy figured he must have been half asleep.

He went back to his room and changed into his school uniform. He rushed to the bathroom and began brushing his teeth when he heard the door of his room screech as if it were opening. Briar quickly rinsed off his mouth and peeked out.

"Mom?"

There was nobody there.

Briar figured it had to be the wind. He continued getting ready for the day.

He checked if he took all his books and if he had packed all his homework. Just as he was about to close his bookbag, he heard a loud knock coming from downstairs. Briar was startled by it at first, but he soon figured that it must have been Seth. They walk together to school every morning, after all.

Briar tossed his bookbag over his shoulder and hurried downstairs. He hastily put on his shoes and opened the door. His eyes with Seth's, earning him a bright smile from the other boy. "Good morning."

"Morning!" Briar smiled back. He exited the house and locked it, taking his keys with him. He and Seth began walking through the lush green street, chatting about their mornings. Briar was a little surprised to hear that he missed breakfast at the bakery. He apologized to Seth for not realizing sooner, but the other boy brushed off his apologizes. Seth promised him they will stop by a kiosk and buy snacks before class.