Sam was lonely. He had forgotten how to feel. He had forgotten how to be. He had forgotten the meaning of meaning itself. He had filled his life with small chores and insignificant rewards he consumed mindlessly. Everything was on a calendar. Everything was on a list.

When he couldn’t bare the confines of the routines he had barricaded himself in, he would just go off the tracks and spend hours doing a single thing. Or a thousand, scattered things. None of them were on the List. None of them were on the Calendar.

He had 30 tabs open on his laptop when he heard a fist hammering on the front door. The roll of thunder resonated in the distant hallway; an outrageous sonic intrusion in this accursed cavern.

What time was it? That YouTube retrospective on one of his favorite childhood video games had led him deep into the rabbit hole. Sam didn’t want to deal with anybody or anything today anyway. He didn’t want to deal with those yesterday either. Or even the day before.

It was 3:10pm. Ugh. “It’s the package I ordered this morning,” he thought to himself.

He didn’t even remember what he had bought. He couldn’t muster the energy to get up either. He felt groggy from the hypnosis the knock had dispelled.