Then the alarm started screaming in Zanka's ear as the sun peeks through his window into his eyes.
Zanka groaned.
He sat up and turned it off.
The room fell quiet.
For a moment he stared at the ceiling, trying to gather enough energy to exist.
No luck.
With a long sigh, he forced himself out of bed.
His routine never changed.
Shirt.
Pants.
Jacket.
Shoes.
Backpack.
Done.
Simple.
Easy.
Automatic.
The less he thought about it, the faster the morning went.
Downstairs, breakfast was already waiting.
His family sat around the table.
Conversations drifted back and forth.
School.
Work.
The weather.
The usual.
Zanka barely participated.
Not because he disliked them.
He just wasn't much of a talker.
He listened.
Ate.
Nodded occasionally.
Then stood up once he finished.
"I'm leaving."
A few goodbyes followed him out the door.
The morning air was cool.
The streets were already filling with children heading toward school.
Everything looked normal.
Everything felt normal.
So why...
Zanka frowned.
Something felt off.
Not dangerous.
Not wrong.
Just...
Missing.
He shoved his hands into his pockets.
The feeling remained.
A strange emptiness.
Like reaching into a bag and finding something wasn't there.
Even though you couldn't remember what you were looking for.
The sensation sent a chill crawling down his spine.
Zanka stopped walking.
For a brief second—
He heard something.
A voice.
Far away.
Broken apart by static.
"J-ab-... -b-r..."
The sound vanished immediately.
Zanka blinked.
"...What?"
Nothing.
Only the wind.
Children continued walking around him without noticing.
The voice was gone.
The feeling remained.
A faint pressure behind his eyes.
Like a memory trying to surface.
Or trying to stay buried.
He continued walking.
A few steps later the sensation disappeared completely.
The name.
The voice.
The chill.
Gone.
As though none of it had happened.
Zanka walked forward silently gripping his backpack straps
"I've been feeling weird lately..."
His voice was barely above a whisper in his mind.
"I feel like I'm forgetting something."
The thought lingered for a moment.
Then it faded too.
And by the time he reached the school gates...
He couldn't even remember why he'd been thinking about it.
"What a weird day..."
