Valeria

The office clock read nearly nine at night, and most of the desks were already empty. The white ceiling lights illuminated rows of powered-down computers and stacks of folders left behind from the day. Only a few screens remained on, and among them was Valeria's.

Her job at the stock exchange was exhausting.

Everyone at the firm thought she was a successful woman. After all, she was one of the top analysts in the department. Her reports were precise, her decisions quick, and her numbers almost never missed. The bosses trusted her, and the new hires looked at her with admiration.

But what no one saw was the weariness she carried on her shoulders.

She lived alone in a small apartment she had been paying off in installments for three years. She was also paying for her car -- not the latest model, but it ran perfectly, and she had bought it with pride after years of hard work.

Her life seemed orderly.

Stable job.

A home of her own, in progress.

Independence.

And yet, Valeria had never been particularly fond of people.

It wasn't that she hated others... she simply found them exhausting.

The trivial office conversations, the parties, the social gatherings, the jokes everyone else seemed to enjoy -- all of it left her feeling empty.

That was why her favorite afternoons were the quietest ones.

When she got home, she would drop her bag on the couch, kick off her shoes, and make a cup of coffee. Then she would open her laptop and start writing.

Stories.

Imaginary characters.

Worlds that existed only in her mind.

In those tales, people were more honest. Love was real, betrayals had consequences, and endings could be happy if she decided they should be.

It was a more comfortable place than the real world.

But reality had also come knocking at her door.

A year ago, she had been in a relationship.

It hadn't been a passionate or dramatic love. It had been something quiet, stable... or so she thought.

Until one day, everything shattered.

She had left work early and decided to stop by the movie theater to watch a film alone. Valeria liked going to the movies by herself -- she could focus on the story without interruptions.

But when she walked into the theater lobby, she saw something that stopped her cold.

Her boyfriend.

And he wasn't alone.

He was with Carolina, a coworker from the office.

They were holding hands.

And when he leaned in to kiss her, Valeria's world went silent.

She didn't make a scene.

She didn't approach them.

She didn't scream.

She just watched for a few seconds, feeling something inside her chest slowly break apart.

Then she turned around and left.

That night she cried.

She cried a lot.

She cried in her bed, hugging the pillow, wondering if she had done something wrong... if she had been too cold, too distant, too focused on her work.

But the next day, when the pain eased a little, something inside her shifted too.

The sadness turned into clarity.

And when her boyfriend came to the apartment that night, Valeria was already sitting on the couch waiting for him.

"We need to talk."

The man set his jacket on the chair, surprised by her calm tone.

"What's going on?"

Valeria looked him straight in the eyes.

"I saw you at the movies yesterday."

The silence that followed was heavy.

"With Carolina."

The man's face changed immediately.

"I... I can explain--"

But Valeria shook her head gently.

"There's no need."

Her voice was calm. Too calm.

"Pack your things and leave."

The man blinked in surprise.

"What?"

"Pack your things and go. We're done."

His reaction wasn't guilt.

It was anger.

"That's it? You're not even going to argue? Not even going to cry?"

Valeria watched him in silence for a few seconds.

"Why should I?"

"Because you're supposed to love me!"

She sighed softly.

"I cried yesterday."

The man went still.

"When I saw you with her. I cried quite a bit."

Her eyes held no tears now.

Only a strange calm.

"But I'm not going to put on some pathetic scene for someone who clearly doesn't love me."

The man frowned.

"Of course I love you."

Valeria shook her head.

"No."

Her voice was firm.

"If you loved me, you wouldn't have cheated on me."

Silence fell between them again.

"So pack your things and go."

But the man didn't move.

Instead, he crossed his arms, defiant.

"I'm not leaving."

Valeria looked at him for a few seconds.

She took a deep breath.

Then she spoke with the same calm as always.

"If you don't walk out that door right now, I'm calling building security."

The man tensed.

"Are you serious?"

"Completely."

She pulled her phone from her pocket.

"You have one minute."

The silence turned uncomfortable.

Finally the man huffed in irritation, walked to the bedroom, and began gathering his things with bad grace.

Ten minutes later, he came out with a suitcase and a backpack.

Before he left, he looked at her with frustration.

"You're a cold woman, you know that?"

Valeria didn't respond.

She just watched him.

"Someday you're going to regret being like this."

The slam of the door echoed through the apartment.

And for a moment, everything went silent.

Valeria stayed seated on the couch.

She didn't cry.

She didn't scream.

She simply got up, went to the kitchen, made coffee... and that very night began writing a new story.

The next day, despite how successful Valeria was, her work life wasn't as perfect as many imagined.

Yes, she was one of the most efficient analysts in the company.

Yes, her reports were impeccable.

Yes, the directors trusted her.

But she had one very big problem.

Her boss.

The woman was known throughout the office for her unpleasant temperament. She was never satisfied, always found something to criticize, and seemed to enjoy it when others had to stay late.

That day, the situation was particularly absurd.

Around five in the afternoon, a loud crash was heard from the street. A few employees near the windows stood up to look.

"I think a car hit the light pole."

And a few seconds later...

Everything went dark.

The screens turned black.

The ceiling lights went out.

The air conditioning fans stopped spinning.

A strange silence filled the office.

"Great..."

From the window, the entire neighborhood was visible without power. A car had crashed into a streetlight and taken out part of the electrical grid.

No power... and no internet.

Which meant something quite obvious to anyone who worked at a stock exchange.

They couldn't work.

But the boss appeared a few minutes later, striding between the desks with her arms crossed.

"Nobody leaves."

The employees stared at her in disbelief.

"But... without internet, we can't do anything."

"We'll wait until the power comes back."

A murmur of frustration rippled through the office.

Valeria sighed.

It was exactly the kind of decision her boss would make.

So, resigned, she turned on her laptop -- which still had battery -- and began to pass the time.

First she reviewed some files, but without a connection she couldn't make much progress.

Then she opened the browser.

And that was when she saw something curious.

The little Google dinosaur.

The game that appeared when there was no internet connection.

Valeria raised an eyebrow.

She had seen that game many times but had never actually stopped to play it.

So she pressed the spacebar.

The little dinosaur began to run.

It jumped over the first cactus.

Then another.

Then two in a row.

Valeria moved her fingers calmly while the dinosaur ran faster and faster.

Several minutes passed.

And then she noticed something interesting.

The further she got... the more the background changed.

First it was light gray.

But then...

It turned dark.

"Hmm..." she murmured to herself.

She hadn't known the game had a night mode.

The dinosaur kept running as small stars appeared against the black background.

A couple of coworkers began chatting near her desk, complaining about the boss and the blackout.

Their voices started to bother her.

Valeria frowned slightly.

She didn't like unnecessary noise.

So she took out her earbuds.

She plugged them into her phone and began scrolling through the downloaded files she kept for listening while driving.

There was music.

A couple of podcasts.

And then she saw something strange.

An audiobook file.

She didn't remember downloading it.

The title didn't ring a bell.

Valeria frowned a little.

"That's odd..."

But she didn't think too much of it.

After all, she sometimes downloaded things without remembering exactly when.

So she played it.

A calm voice began narrating the story.

Valeria leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes slightly as she listened.

She didn't know exactly what the story was about yet.

But it was far better than listening to the conversations filling the office.

And little by little, as time passed...

She became completely absorbed in the narration.

Finally, around eight that night, the power came back.

The screens lit up.

But it was already too late to get any real work done.

After a few more minutes, the boss finally allowed everyone to leave.

The employees practically ran out of the building.

Outside, the neighborhood was completely dark.

Although electricity had returned in some areas, much of the street lighting was still out because of the accident.

The streets were lit only by a few cars and distant lights.

Valeria walked toward the parking lot.

Her steps were unhurried.

The earbuds were still in her ears.

The audiobook's voice continued narrating the story, and she was so absorbed in it that she barely paid attention to her surroundings.

The ground was wet.

Technicians had been working near the damaged light pole, and water had pooled in several spots.

Valeria didn't notice.

Her foot stepped into a puddle.

Water splashed around her shoe.

A second later...

There was a violent spark.

A scream from the people nearby.

Something had gone wrong with the streetlight repair.

Electricity surged through the water on the ground.

It all happened in an instant.

Valeria collapsed.

Her body lay sprawled on the wet pavement.

But she felt no pain.

It was all too fast.

Her vision went white.

The sounds of the outside world faded away.

And the only thing she could still hear... was the calm voice of the audiobook narrating the story through her earbuds.

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