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A scene illustrating Harold Wicks' solitary routine with a deceased cat

A scene illustrating Harold Wicks' solitary routine with a deceased cat

Harold Wicks had lived alone for twenty years. He didn’t mind it. He had a routine: tea at 6, toast at 7, feed the cat (even though the cat had been dead since 2011), and exactly ten minutes of television before bed. One evening, while wiping down his already-clean kitchen counter, Harold noticed something strange. A switch. It hadn’t been there yesterday. It was embedded neatly into the tiled wall — a simple red toggle labeled only with one word: “OFF.” He stared at it for a full minute. He didn’t remember installing it. No repairs had been done. No new paint. But there it was, as real as the humming fridge and the buzzing light above him. Harold made a cup of tea, sat down, and tried to ignore it. But his eyes kept drifting back. OFF. Off what? After thirty minutes of resisting, he got up and flicked it. The world went quiet. No hum. No buzz. No wind outside. Even the distant bark of the neighbor’s dog disappeared. Harold stepped outside. The stars weren’t there. Not hidden by Ver más