It was a sunny afternoon, and Sidra was walking home from school, his mood lightened by the surprising absence of his math teacher that day.
"Today is my lucky day!" he chuckled to himself, pulling out a set of keys as he approached the front door of his house, nestled among several other buildings on the side of the road.
As he opened the door, a delightful aroma wafted toward him, leaving him grinning from ear to ear. He hurriedly closed the front door behind him and made his way to the kitchen, where his grandmother was busy preparing lunch.
"Hello, Grandma!" Sidra bounced into the room, curiosity sparkling in his eyes as he leaned over to inspect the ingredients on the counter.
His sudden appearance startled her, nearly causing her to drop a stack of plates she'd arranged nearby. "Sidra! Pay attention! You almost made me break your grandpa's favorite plates!" she scolded, her cheeks flushed with both worry and affection. She pinched his cheek lightly, eliciting a playful wince from him.
"Ouch! Your pinches hurt more than a punch!" Sidra replied, rubbing his cheek dramatically. "Anyway, do you need help in the kitchen?"
"No, thanks!" She let out an exasperated sigh, waving him off. "I've learned my lesson I'll never let you near anything in here after you broke most of the cups and glasses last time. Just go play and let me finish making lunch."
"Ehehe, that wasn't on purpose! I just tripped," he protested, sheepishly looking away. "I'll be upstairs. Call me when it's ready, okay?" Changing the subject, Sidra dashed up the stairs.
'That kid never stops running' his grandmother thought with a smile, shaking her head as she returned to her cooking.
Once upstairs, Sidra entered his room and changed out of his school clothes, excitement bubbling in him. "Okay, let's see where it is…" He pulled back his desk chair and sat down, opening the drawer.
"Here you are!" he exclaimed, revealing a diary it was his father's diary. The cover was worn, but it held a world of memories, documenting Sidra's life through pictures and anecdotes from the happy days before tragedy struck. A bittersweet smile crept across his face as he contemplated opening it but he decided against it placing it back in the drawer.
Just as he was about to close it, a glint caught his eye. Curiously, he reached in and pulled out a peculiar object. "And where did you come from?" Sidra examined it closely; it was a small hourglass, slightly taller than his hand, filled with a golden sand that shimmered mysteriously.
He placed it on his desk and scrutinized it, intrigued. "I don't remember ever buying an hourglass, my grandparents don't have it either so how did it end up here?" He rotated it captivated by the way the sand swirled gently.
For reasons he couldn't explain, it felt as though the hourglass was whispering to him. He shook off the thought and decided to leave it there for now. With a sigh he flopped onto his bed, memories of his parents flooding back.
Today was significant not just because it was his 17th birthday but also the ninth anniversary of their death. Sidra was just eight years old when they tragically lost their lives during a robbery at the bank. That day, a group of armed gang members had sealed off the building holding everyone captive. In the chaos his parents were caught in the crossfire, their lives snuffed out too soon and fading from memory the moment the robbers were caught.
"Only if they hadn't gone to the bank that day…" He turned onto his side as hot tears stung his eyes. He quickly squeezed them shut, dwelling in sadness was not what he wanted. He allowed exhaustion to take over and drifted into sleep.
*Crash!*
A loud noise jolted him awake and his heart raced as he recognized the sound of glass shattering, lazily opening his eyes, he turned and sat up at the edge of his bed.
Morning light streamed through the window "Did I sleep that long?" he murmured to himself, glancing at the time. Just then his gaze fell to the floor near his desk where shimmering sand splattered across the carpet, "Was there an earthquake?" Panic set in as he scanned the room to his relief nothing seemed amiss except for the hourglass.
He got to his feet and rushed to check himself in the mirror, he looked fine his brown hair messy, gray eyes bright, and his tall figure looking back at him as it should. "What's going on here?"
He returned to the hourglass shards on the floor, biting his lip in concern "If Grandma finds out…" He sighed, grabbing a small broom and dustpan to clean up the mess.
After tidying up, Sidra reached for his phone, only to find the time glaring back at him: [11:23 AM] But it was the date that sent a jolt of shock through him [29 August]. "That can't be right! My phone must be malfunctioning! Yesterday when I fell asleep, it was only the 25th! Four days?!"
His mind raced "I should ask Grandma and Grandpa about this"He dashed downstairs, but his heart sank as he realized the living room was void of life, grandpa wasn't on the sofa reading the newspaper and nor was Grandma bustling about in the kitchen.
"Maybe they're still asleep?" He thought to himself,Sidra went down the hallway to their room but his unease grew when he found it empty.
Panic gripped him "Where are they?" he whispered, almost afraid to speak aloud "I should check outside!"
He burst through the front door with his heart racing in his chest as he took a look to the street, he scanned the neighborhood his stomach turned there were no familiar faces, no kids playing outside, not even a glimpse of the neighbors chatting along the sidewalks he was met only by silence.
"W-what the hell is going on?!"