Page 115 of Kiss Slay Replay

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There’s traffic. There’s never been traffic before, but then again, I’ve never left this early. And it’s not unusual for there to be traffic in New Jersey. Just unusual for there to be traffic today.

I reroute the GPS, and it takes me a wild way through Jersey City that doesn’t seem any faster. I end up on 78, which also has traffic. It’s a parking lot.

The rain clouds have settled over Manhattan, over the upper bay. Tiny drops dot my windshield. Steph must be devastated.

If I were thinking about things, which I’m actively trying not to, I’d be thinking that the rain was a bad sign. A sign that—

My car shakes.

The road shakes.

The world shakes.

Great.

It happens again and my seat belt pulls tight across my chest.

People lay on their horns. I watch the guy in front of me get out of his car, walk around the front, and stare out at the bay. I follow his gaze.

There’s a strange wave coming toward us.

Every thought we have, every emotion, every decision we make, it ripples out into the universe. It informs the world around us, Tanya said. Inside the wormhole, our ripples are tidal waves.

I fucking swear, if this is a tsunami, if I drown again…nothing will happen because I have no recourse.

I lean over to look out my passenger side window. More people are getting out of their cars. Staring. Some are taking video on their phones.

I reach for mine. Open Google. My hands are unsteady, thumbs won’t cooperate, won’t type “Earthquake New Jersey” into the search bar.

Another tremor. A bad one.

Car alarms sound, windows shatter. One of the streetlamps tips, teeters for a moment before coming down on the sedan in front of me.

Some people run. Flight.

Some stand completely still, transfixed by the view of the bay, by the wave crashing over Liberty Island. Freeze.

I exhale, bury my face in my hands, curl into the steering wheel. There is no fight. How do I fight against a natural disaster?

I didn’t even get a chance to try today. Maybe the loop doesn’t want to let me out. What if, no matter how hard I try, I can never escape? What if all that’s left for me is this?

What if my story is a horror story?

The road beneath me slants, and I uncover my eyes, and I look, and I see.

There’s something in the bay.

Something giant. A building? A…

A dinosaur?

A giant fucking dinosaur?

Wait.

No.