Novel

Janine stared at the graphic novel and shook her head to clear it; the person on the cover was her - manga style; it was her kitchen, her cat, her dirty dishes in the sink. "WHAT THE HECK?!?" she blustered, grabbing the book and opening it randomly. Shocked to find the bit where her grandmother died at age 7, Janine flipped quickly forward to find something about a betrayal, a new job, a romance, an eerie ... "HEY!" she shouted as the book was ripped from her hands. "I'm terribly sorry," the bookstore clerk whispered, "but that was put on display in error." Janine clambered after him, but it was like her legs didn't work; she watched him round the corner (disappearing along with most of the shelves). She started awake, looking over at the clock; she was ahead of her alarm by 20 minutes. "Betrayal, a new job, a romance ... and ... and ...," Janine whispered, trying to remember it all (but failing). Getting out of bed, she could recall the face of her false friend in the book's pages - the one picking her up for work in half an hour. "Not feeling well," she texted. "Go on without me." Janine needed coffee and a hot minute to plan her next move. She knew a warning when she dreamt one.