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20. Breakfast
September 2026,
Scars Bay, USA
Katerina
I operated this past week on auto-pilot mode. I woke up, got ready for the day, went to work, dealt with problems all day, went home, and then slept.
For the first time in my entire life, work didn't have a therapeutic effect on me. At the end of a long day, I didn't feel like I accomplished something. I didn't feel good about myself. In fact, I felt glad to be done with work for the day because it meant that the day was almost over. And I was one day closer to Alyanna coming back home.
I had talked to her a few times over the phone during the last week but something felt off. Her mind was occupied elsewhere. And no, it wasn't work. That, I was sure of. Jayden and I had known immediately that she was lying when she said that work was the reason she couldn't come home with us right away. She wasn't that good of a liar and we knew
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