A domino was pushed. Signals were sent. An irreversible chain was underway. All because  Imogen Howe took that exit off the highway.

She didn't know this yet though. The phone call that came was just like any phone call. In fact she missed it because she was asleep. Only saw it...

It was a cold day according to the internet. But Dale didn't know because he was in a windowless, temperature controlled room. He wondered how nice it would be to be out there in the snow. Feeling it melt against his nose. But instead he was under the florescent lights....

Because she coudln't find any info on  Spacecity , she wrote about it in her  notebook . Simple statements like "Spacecity... what is it. What do people do up there. Did people really live up in space for that long?"

That's what  Imogen Howe did when she couldn't find information to...

She walked up to the door and was about to knock. But her hand didn't move. Instead she placed her ear against the wood and listened.

Nobody was home. There was light. And motion. But she could tell the motion was artificial. Like  Home Alone where the kid rigged up different...

Alan could keep the cafe running while she was gone. He'd know how to run the place for at least a few weeks. So she didn't need to get back anytime soon.

But she would need to withdraw cash before alan locked the account. She didn't expect him to do that....

"And also. If she was rescuing a puppy, wouldn't she answer my calls?"

"You got a point there."

Alan didn't say anything. Aaron could sense that his friend wanted him to volunteer to call Imogen again.

"Yeah but I can call her. I'll do it now. How about that?"

"Thanks, Aaron."

Aaron hung up and...

When the call came in her gut said don't answer it. She was overthinking though. Like always.

Answer it her mind said. It's your boyfriend. Girlfriend's don't ignore their boyfriend's call.

She was driving though. That could be an excuse. But she'd have to answer eventually. She couldn't drive forever. Not even...

When the dot stopped moving closer to him, Alan felt relieved. He would have more time to himself.

But then an hour or so passed. And the dot stayed the same. He got worried. Began looking up where she was. And it was just the middle of the road.

He suddenly felt...

"Imogen what happened to that cafe? It had so much promise. I remember. This was years ago. I visited. And now I hear you're working a regular job. What happened?"

"It was really. really hard to run a cafe."

"Mmm. I bet. But I thought you had a knack for it. The...

Their relationship begun in the winter. 

Winter was always special for that reason.

But each passing winter, it felt less special.

And their relationship felt less a one of a kind and more of a clone.

The creative, sensitive man now seemed plain, irritating, and unoriginal.

And her cafe. No longer felt like a...