Jack's eyes snapped open.

  "Huh"

  For a moment, he just lay there, frozen.

  Staring at the familiar stain-marked ceiling of his apartment.

  The dull yellow paint seemed to closed in on him, and the faint scent of cigarettes seeping through the cracks coming from his neighbor's apartment assaulted his nose.

  *grrrrrowl*

  Making his stomach churn.

  The stale air that filled his nostrils on the void seems nonexistent.

  His room was still shrouded in darkness, a contrast to the bright light of the white void.

  The only light is coming from the faint glow of his closed bathroom door, casting an eerie feeling on the foot of his bed.

  The ceiling light above him was off.

  His heart is racing, his mind still buzzing with frustration, he felt like he was stuck in a nightmare from which he couldn't wake up.

  He just lay there, trying to catch his breath, trying to shake off the vivid memory of the white void and the infuriating words that seemed to mock him.

  But the memory lingered, refusing to be shaken off, and Jack's frustration simmered just below the surface, waiting to boil over again.

  He groaned, rubbing his temples, feeling the familiar ache of a tension headache.

  And the small noises coming from the tv that he forgot to turn off last night added to his misery.

  That… that dream—if it was a dream—felt too real.

  The void, the floating words, the horrible realization that he sucked at imagining things.

  But now, here he was, back in his rundown apartment, back to reality.

  *creak* *creak*

  *squeak*

  Jack rolled onto his side, and his mattress creaked in protest, the springs squeaking beneath him.

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  He reach for the remote and turn the small tv off.

  He glanced at his alarm clock, the red numbers glowing in the dim light. 5:27 AM.

  Three minutes before it was set to go off.

  "Great"

  Jack muttered, his voice laced with sarcasm.

  "Another exciting day of barely surviving."

  He shut his eyes again, willing himself back to sleep, but his brain refused to cooperate.

  His mind kept wandering back to the dream, to the feeling of powerlessness and frustration.

  *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

  The alarm clock shattered the silence, and Jack smacked it off the nightstand.

  *smack*

  *thunk*

  It hit the floor with a dull thunk, the sound echoing through the apartment.

  *creak*

  He dragged himself out of bed.

  Jack tried to turn the ceiling light on, but it only flickered.

  Then he remembered that it's not working anymore since the other day.

  "Right, I totally forgot"

  He sighed and shuffled to the tiny bathroom instead.

  "Gotta dip into my small savings"

  Blinking from the sudden bright light of the bathroom, he took a moment to adjust his eyes.

  The cold bathroom floor sent a shiver through his feet.

  He trudged to the sink, his body sluggish with the weight of waking up.

  The sink was cracked, with a faint brown stain around the drain.

  And the mirror had a spiderweb of fractures in the corner.

  Making his reflection look distorted, like a funhouse mirror image.

  He turned on the faucet, and the water took at least a minute to turn from brown to mostly clear.

  *splash*

  *clank*

  The sound of pipes clanking and groaning in the walls.

  Jack stared at his reflection, taking in the dark circles under his brown eyes.

  His messy black hair sticking up in every direction, and his face, looked perpetually exhausted.

  With a few hint of stubble showing under his chin.

  "Yup. Still me,"

  He muttered, shaking his head.

  No sudden superpowers.

  No reality-bending abilities.

  Just the same old Jack.

  *splash* *splash*

  When the water became clear, he washed his face.

  He rubs thoroughly as if to erase everything that's on his mind.

  The water is cold, making his face feel numb.

  Then proceeded in brushing his teeth.

  After he was done, he look one more time on the bathroom mirror.

  But he's not seeing anything clearly, his vision is a bit blurry.

  "Huh?"

  Then he remembered he's not wearing his glasses.

  He reached for his towel hanging next to the mirror and dry his face.

  Then looked at the mirror again.

  He squinted, his eyes focusing on something in his ears that caught his attention.

  "What's this??"

  A reddened scratch.

  The angry line still looked sore.

  "Now where did I get that?"

  He wondered for a bit but he's still clueless.

  "Oh well, I'll just put some band aid on it later."

  Then he turned and left the bathroom.

  He got dressed in the same clothes he wore nearly every day—a faded hoodie, worn jeans, and scuffed sneakers.

  No point trying to look good when nobody cared.

  *growwwlll*

  His stomach growled, reminding him that he needed to eat.

  He checked the fridge, finding it empty except for a half-empty bottle of ketchup.

  He checked the cabinets, finding a single pack of instant noodles staring sadly back at him.

  "Yum"

  Jack sighed dryly, boiling some water and pouring it over the noodles.

  He sat at his tiny table, slurping them down while scrolling through his phone.

  He reached for his eye glasses that's on the table and put it on.

  News articles, random social media posts, people showing off their powers like it was no big deal.

  The glasses slide off his face slowly.

  A girl summoning a swirling vortex of water.

  "Hmmm"

  He reach his fingers to his glasses and slides them back up.

  A guy transforming into a humanoid lion.

  *slurp*

  A sixteen year old kid creating a miniature sun that hovered above his palm.

  Jack scrolled past all of it, feeling a familiar pang of jealousy and frustration.

  It was just noise.

  A constant reminder that he didn't belong in this world of freakish abilities.

  By the time he finished his sad excuse for breakfast, it was time to leave for work.

  Another sixteen-hour shift.

  Another day of dealing with rude customers, crappy pay, and a boss who acted like breathing was a privilege.

  Jack grabbed his bag, stuffed his phone inside, and opened the door.

  He put the keys in his pant's backpocket.

  The bright sunlight outside made him squint on his eyeglasses.

  *beep*

  *honk* *honk*

  *chattering*

  The sounds of the city—car horns, chatter, sirens in the distance—hit him like a slap in the face.

  Just another normal day.

  And yet…

  As he stepped outside, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was different.

  That something had changed.