[ WP ] On Dec 31st , 2016 , everyone hears the exact same broadcast message in their head : “ Level 2016 failed ; restarting level . ”

*Rest... Rest... Rest... * 
 
 An uneasy voice spoke to Norm, as he began to emerge from unconsciousness. A curious throbbing began as he opened his eyes. 
 
 *Rest... Rest... Rest* 
 
 Norm slowly looked around. His eyes felt sore and swollen from heavy sleep. 
 
 *What in the great green... * 
 
 Norm's confusion dried as he awoke exponentially with each passing second. He recognized an all too familiar environment. He was n't at Lorenzo's. He was in a hospital bed. 
 
 *How? Again? * 
 
 Norm felt warm drops tickling his hand. Wisps of blood trailed down his forearm, where an IV stabbed. The voice in his head interrupted with even more force, and a different word echoed in his mind -- *Restart... Restart... * 
 
 *But... I did n't have anything to drink. * 
 
 He tried to piece together what he could. Feeling sedated did n't help. He closed his eyes. 
 
 He heard music cutting through the other sounds of cheers, and laughter, louder and more persistent than even the more resilient ball drop coverage on the television. It was his music that was playing through the studio monitors. He brought over the demo to Lorenzo's so everyone could hear it before he sent it off. He wanted fresh ears. 
 
 Norm began to murmur. 
 
 *Restarting... Rest... Restarting* 
 
 His eyes blurred again. He saw a normal face come into the room. He could n't make out the words but the mouth moved. The nurse carried a clipboard. She pointed to something next to him. 
 
 On a small table, was a card. Except this one, like the room, looked familiar. It was hand-made from a piece of paper that was folded, with a little stick-man playing the guitar on the front. Norm reached over, and opened it. 
 
 It was from a girl. The same girl who died last year, around this time. 
 
 Pangs of confusion shot through his body. 
 
 *What the hell is going on. Why do I have this card? * 
 
 `` Honey?'' said the nurse. `` Do you remember what happened?'' 
 
 `` Bits and pieces ” said Norm. 
 
 The nurse looked down at the clipboard. `` My file says you're in here due to public intoxication.'' She looked equally confused as him. The last time he had a drink was last year. He had been sober throughout 2016 since. 
 
 `` But, this must be a mistake!'' Norm shouted. 
 
 The Nurse's eyebrows rose. She walked out into the hall, where she met with other nurses. They talked in soft, suppressed whispers. 
 
 A slender Doctor then walked in behind the nurse. She reached out her hand. 
 
 `` I'm Doctor Reita. My... *staff* says they do n't remember you coming in last night. Perhaps it's because they were scheduled a different shift.'' She sounded hesitant. 
 
 `` But, the blood results indicate that you're to be kept here for few more days.'' 
 
 He could see that some of the Nurses in the hall were examining Doctor Reita's straight posture and composed expression. They seemed surprised when she walked in like they had never seen her before. 
 
 *Restart... Restart... Restart* 
 ________________________________________________________________ 
 A few days later, Norm was discharged from the hospital. The nurses heard the same thing he had heard in his head. `` Level 2016 failed; restarting level.'' His curiosity shrank. He had a strong feeling that this was another one of Lorenzo's pranks. He would call him when he got home. Norm walked to the bus-stop in front of the hospital, and sat down on the bench. A little boy with her mother sat next to him. 
 
 The little boy looked frightened as he smiled at her. 
 
 `` You gon na wash that off?'' The mother asked. Norm noticed blood spewing from the IV incision. 
 
 *I'm clean... I swear. * 
 
 That night, he lied in bed, restless. He looked over at the card on his nightstand, which was mailed to him this time, last year... when he was in the hospital for public intoxication. He wondered, if this were all true, and not some New Year ’ s stunt, that... Norm rubbed his eyes, closed them, and sighed. 
 
 Just then, there was a vibration from his pocket; the buzz of his burner track-phone rather than the ringtone of his personal one he'd buy in six months. 
 
 And that's when realized it. This was n't a stunt. Something had happened. He searched online. And it was everywhere. Everyone had heard the same thing he and the nurses heard. He wanted to drink himself to sleep. 
 
 *Rest. * 
 ________________________________________________________________ 
 Norm woke up the following afternoon, and walked to the soup kitchen around the corner at the local church. The usual ’ s were still there. He grabbed a plate of dumplings and some fruit. He sat alone this time. 
 
 *Restarting…Restarting…* 
 
 The words sounded like a car crash when he read them in his head. *Level 2016 failed; restarting level, * He ’ d never been so afraid of thirteen syllables in his life. 
 
 “ You know ” said an old voice behind him. Gabriel, a retired ex-Navy, sat down next to Norm. Gabriel wore the kind of scruff on his face that does n't looked trimmed, but you know is always there – a typical veteran. 
 
 “ When I wake up, the only thing I know for sure is that everyone is right the first time. ” 
 
 Gabriel sipped his coffee. 
 
 “ It hurts a hell of a lot more the second time around though. ” 
 
 Norm looked up at the old veteran, but didn ’ t say anything. 
 
 At the table behind them, Jessica, a forty-something ex-sailor, was talking to a young volunteer, who was trying to explain what could have happened last night. 
 
 `` Are you a spy of the Russian government? If you are and are lying to us, then understand that we will... have to kill you!'' said Jessica. 
 
 The boy winced, but smiled on cue. 
 
 `` Ma ’ am, everyone I ’ ve spoken to woke up the following morning in places they weren ’ t when the countdown to New Years began. This has to be God ’ s work. Even the dead have risen! ” 
 
 Like white noise, the ambience of the dining hall deflated. It couldn ’ t be true. 
 
 Gabriel interrupted. 
 
 “ Each moment is precious. Most are forgotten. Not this one. ” 
 
 Norm reached into his pocket to grab his phone. He looked at date. 
 
 January 1, 2016. 
 
 *Level failed. * 
 
 “ You know, this morning, when all the chaos was still in the air, I sat there thinking of my wife and son again. ” 
 
 Gabriel ’ s mind was breaking. Norm could tell from the tear trailing his cheeks. 
 
 “ It was n't like seeing the photos of Jenny and Ben that I had in my jacket, though. The images I had were of them without me. Images of knowing that I'd never touch them again. As I sat there, thinking of them, in the midst of battle, I suddenly got this presence of mind: I got ta try to survive. ” 
 
 Norm knew he still had time. Again. 
 
 “ Gabe ” said Norm. “ Can you take me somewhere? 
 
 Gabe smiled, and nodded. He knew where Norm was headed. 
 ________________________________________________________________ 
 Norm walked into the hospital, turned, and waved to Gabriel as he drove off. Norm walked up to the receptionist. When he spoke, for the first time in twenty-four hours, it was his own voice he heard in his head. 
 
 “ Hello… um… ” Norm felt his stomach unsettle. “ Is Wendy Earhart here? ” 
 
 The receptionist studied Norm for a moment. 
 
 “ One moment please. ” The receptionist sifted through the database on her computer with surprising speed. 
 
 “ Room 4113. You ’ ll need a wristband. ” 
 
 The sound of the receptionist, when she spoke, echoed back in an alien tone, from the top of the glass dome to the marble floors. 
 ________________________________________________________________ 
 Norm walked slowly into the room. The faces turned to him, surprised to see him. 
 
 His movements jagged and he seemed to stumble as he walked to the opposite side of the hospital bed. He looked down at the girl. She had worn the necklace he gave her, after all these years. He felt his soul diluting in his body. He lost some sense of concentration of the situation that lied in front of him. He began to sing the song he wrote for her in his head. But Wendy lied motionless. 
 
 “ I thought this was some sick prank at first. ” 
 
 Norm turned to a face that held little significance in his life now. Norm ’ s brother, Mark, leaned down and held his daughter ’ s hand. 
 
 “ But when she woke up. I knew it had to be her. ” 
 
 An obvious shiver ran down Mark ’ s spine. 
 ________________________________________________________________ 
 A month seemed to pass in the waiting room. Norm knew he could not make this same mistake again. 
 
 *Let's not screw up this time around, right Norm? * 
 
 Mark collapsed in front of the family in the lobby. Mark could n't go through this again. He couldn ’ t relive the fact that he drove Wendy home, plastered on New Years Eve. He couldn ’ t relive the fact that he had killed her again. 
 
 Norm looked at the time. 11:31 PM, January 2, 2016. He still had a couple of days with her. 
 ________________________________________________________________ 
 Norm quietly closed the door to Wendy ’ s room. His guitar was leaning on the window seal, moonlight splashing into the room like cavern-light. He couldn ’ t tell if she was awake. He walked over to the edge of her bed. Wendy hid a gentle face behind deep black hair. Norm leaned over and intertwined her hair in her fingers. 
 
 “ Oh sugar. ” Norm whispered into her ear. He gently rested his face against her soft skin. “ You remember when mom would quietly walk into the room and instead of waking you up, she would whisper ‘ It snowed, schools are closed, go back to sleep? ’ You remember the content feeling of drifting back off and knowing what a fun day of sledding and snowball fights lay ahead, and how that was easily the best feeling in the world, right?'' 
 
 Norm ’ s throat caught. He laid his head on Wendy ’ s soft chest, playing with her hair still. 
 
 *Restart…Restart…* 
 
 “ Sugar… I don ’ t know why this all happened. I don ’ t know why I didn ’ t come back to you the first time… But I ’ m here. I ’ m here for you sugar. ” 
 
 Wendy turned her head, achingly, to Norm. She opened her eyes. 
 
 “ Daddy… You came. ” 
 
 “ I ’ m here sugar. And I ’ m not going anywhere. ” 
 
 He brought his guitar out of the case, and played her song. Smiling, he let go. She closed her eyes, and slept for the last time, once more. 
 
 *Rest. *
