Comedy

Friday morning arrived like an unanticipated plot twist in the else predictable narrative of Arthur Bellweather’s week. He awoke with a launch, not because of the alarm, which sat faithfully blinking on the nightstand, but because he realized he'd ac... more

By Thursday morning, Arthur Bellweather had grown cautiously confident in his routines, though every morning carried the same subtle undercurrent of suspicion that he might have been caught in an elaborate trick. He awoke before the alarm, as always,... more

By Wednesday morning, Arthur Bellweather had grown suspicious of his own cooperation with time. He awoke before the alarm, again, with the strange feeling that something was watching him—not menacingly, not even judgmentally, but with a steady, calcu... more

By Tuesday, Arthur Bellweather was no longer fighting time, which worried him more than when he had been openly at war with it. He woke before the alarm again, not startled this time, but alert in the quiet, unsettling way of someone who felt prepare... more

By Sunday evening, Arthur Bellweather had developed a dangerous new habit confidence. It arrived still, slipping into his posture, uncurling his shoulders, persuading him that maybe, just maybe, he understood how time worked now. He stood in the kitc... more

By the third successive morning of promptitude, Arthur Bellweather began to suspect that reality was setting him up for commodity. He woke before the alarm, eyes snapping open at six fifty- eight with the startled alertness of a man who had accidenta... more

That night arrived with an air of dubitation as if darkness itself had heard rumors about Arthur Bellweather’s bedtime reform and was eager to witness the disaster firsthand. The living room lights were bedimmed to what Linda called “ sleep-friendly ... more

By the time morning decided to arrive duly, it did so with all the confidence of a cat knocking a glass off a table and pretending it was an accident. The sun crept through the curtains in thin, hypercritical stripes, illuminating the battleground kn... more