Too Late...

Last night, I went to bed too late — around three in the morning, and I had a strange dream.

It felt like I was far from home, in another part of the city. The buses had stopped running; it was too late. I had no money for a taxi, and, as luck would have it, my phone was dead. In the distance, about a hundred meters away, I noticed a police car still running. I walked up to it and peeked inside — no one was there. The car was unlocked, and the key was still in the ignition, as if it had been left there just for me.

Before I knew it, I was already behind the wheel. Driving through the empty city streets at night, I felt a strange hum in my head. After cruising for a while, I was almost home when the police pulled me over. They took me to the station, as if this had all been some kind of trap.

The interrogation began. They tried to pin the theft of three kilograms of candy and several murders on me. One of them played the "bad cop" — he hit me a few times, even punched me in the face. The other pretended to be the "good cop," pulling the first one away, but he also pressured me, trying to get me to sign a confession.

— You’ll confess to everything! You’ll sign it all!
And if not, you won’t leave here alive!
— Guys, I didn’t do it, you’ve got the wrong guy!
— You all say that at first, but then you confess to everything! It always goes the same way in our department.

I held out as long as I could, but my strength was fading. I was about to sign everything just to make them stop when the "bad cop’s" phone rang. He picked it up, and I heard a woman’s voice:
“Henry, have you checked the time? Why are you still at work? We were supposed to visit the Parkers tonight, but now it’s too late!”

At that moment, I woke up, drenched in sweat, my heart pounding. But I was relieved — it had all been just a dream.

I decided to have breakfast, glanced at the clock — it was already noon.

And for breakfast, it was too late. I’d have to settle for lunch.

Image by Bayram Er and taken from pexels.com
https://www.pexels.com/@Bayramfuerdieseele