Promptober 2026 Day 30: Time
For Soyo, it is essential to make time.
The world is full of demands on her attention, her expertise, her emotions, her soul. It nibbles away at her bit by bit, and then she finds that she is in the world, and of it, rather than above it.
For a long time, she was dead.
She went through life with eyes that stared straight ahead. She stood onstage and played her bass automatically, not hearing the lyrics, not feeling anything. She gave chirpy answers to everyone’s questions in the well-bred and well-maintained voice that she thought of as the Tsukinomori accent.
She was a ghost haunting her own life. But– little by little– she began to claw it back.
One second at a time, she allowed herself to feel guilty, instead of feeling nothing.
She allowed herself to feel hurt, instead of feeling numb.
And– crucially– she allowed herself to feel satisfaction.
Joy was still too much to hope for. But satisfaction? She could do satisfaction. The satisfaction of a set played with a little extra flair. The satisfaction of standing above her peers in her studies, not just beside them.
And… the satisfaction of a well-brewed cup of tea.
Today, it’s oolong. Tieguanyin. A relatively rare varietal in Japan. Named for the goddess of mercy, forgiveness, and compassion.
Today, she makes time for that.
–
So many of Taki’s own joys and satisfactions come down to one thing: keeping time.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tapTAP-tap-tap-tap. Her fingernail clicks on the polished stainless steel counter on which the espresso machine sits. She doesn’t know she’s doing it. She’s watching the rich brown liquid flow from the perforated mouth of the portafilter and drip down almost unctuously into the cup.
She has timed it perfectly: The milk in her pitcher ticks over to 60 degrees just as the shot finishes pulling. She switches off the steam wand and cuts the hot water with a single sweep of her hand, pulls the milk pitcher down, purges it into a cloth. The pitcher gets a gentle tap on the counter, a single swirl, and then, with relish, she pours the milk into the cup.
It’s not patterned. No rosaries, no flowers, no intricate animals in the foam. But it is… perfect. The nutty aroma of the espresso, the sweetness of the milk, perfectly balanced in the foam so rich it may as well be velvet.
She hands off the latte to the customer with a smile that she doesn’t even have to force.
She remembered just how much this process scared her when she started out. Now, it’s as easy as keeping a 4/4 beat.
–
The thing that scares Tomori is losing time.
Isn’t that idea terrifying? Each second of the day, you’re closer to the end. You have to spend that time moving, going forward. Pushing through the fog isn’t just the way forward, it’s the only way to survive.
She frowns and sits back.
Pushing through the fog isn’t just the way forward, it’s the only way to survive - is that right? She grimaces, draws a line through the whole thing.
I don’t want to lose time. I don’t want to forget a second.
Is that anything? Does that feel real?
She draws a line through that, too. If it’s important, it’ll come back. The important ideas never leave forever, they always come back. They want to be on the page, after all. They want to come out of her mouth.
She pushes herself back from her desk and walks over to her window, where an evening that she planned to spend peering through her telescope has been ruined by dark clouds and drizzle. Oh well. The world needs rain, too. Today, she worked hard. That’s more than enough reason to smile.
–
Today, Anon keeps finding that she is just in time.
It’s like she’s been blessed by some kind of serendipity goddess. Every time she approaches a crosswalk, it switches over to ‘WALK’. She goes shopping for a new skirt, and finds the absolute perfect one hanging on the rack, 20% off. And on a whim, she stops by the makeup counter at the department store to find that the brand-new-limited-edition-Nyamuchi-collab mascara was not only not sold out, but that she’s snagging the very last bottle.
She simply cannot lose. She eats a crepe from the food court and for just a moment, she can feel the luck actually flowing through her veins; she sees the world lining up in front of her, ready to give her exactly what she wants, clicking into place.
Then, she blinks, and it’s gone. But the smile lingers on her face for the rest of the day. Tomorrow will be a normal day again - but she’ll carry the memory of this precious, serendipitous day for a while.
You gotta take the little victories, after all.
–
The most precious thing to Raana is wasting time.
…that goddamn stray cat. I told her that we only had 45 minutes booked in the practice room tonight.
Honestly. One of these days, we’ve gotta stop indulging her.
I don’t think we need to go out and look or anything, she can take care of herself, but–
–huh?
What do you mean she’s in the practice room already?
Did she sneak in through the back? Oh, that little… that’s it, this time, she’s helping me clean backstage after the show!