The chocolate cake sat in the center of the dining table, its surface glossy and perfect. I'd spent the afternoon carefully decorating it with swirls of dark ganache, each one a silent testament to another year passed. My forty-fifth birthday. Possibly my last.

Dusk settled outside the

The power went out at 10:17 PM. I remember the exact time because I'd been staring at the digital clock on the microwave, watching the minutes tick by, wondering how many I had left. Then darkness—sudden and complete.

Michael cursed from the living room. Emma groaned dramatically about

The morning light streamed through the east-facing windows of my small Wicker Park apartment, casting golden rectangles across the worn wooden floor. I stood in the tiny kitchen, my hands gripping the edge of the counter as I watched the coffee drip slowly into the pot. My first morning