She woke at 3:17 AM
with her mind already
running. Not from a
dream — from a
conversation that never
happened, an email she
hadn't sent, a version
of tomorrow she couldn't
control. The ceiling fan
turned above her,
indifferent. She counted
the rotations until her
breathing matched the
rhythm. It didn't solve
anything. But for a
while, the noise in her
head had company.