GROUNDHOG DAY mixed with SIXTEEN CANDLES and a splash of DOCTOR WHO. A boy forever reincarnated as himself meets his soulmate for the 200th time, but can she solve the puzzle and break the curse to make herself his last?
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Martha Beckett's life...
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November 29, 1994
Martha awoke to the bell of her clock. She had been having a fascinating dream about taking part in some kind of scavenger hunt with a boy she used to know. It took place at an altered version of a campground she visited in elementary school and, in the dream, they were being hunted by kidnappers or possibly government agents. She stretched and yawned. She tried to remember the boy's name and now couldn't remember his face. It was a fascinating dream, she was certain. She couldn't remember where it took place or exactly what they were supposed to be doing. She stood up and it was gone; deemed nonessential by her brain and discarded to the void.
The sun had yet to dawn, so Martha turned on her bedside lamp. She squinted, grabbed her robe off of a hook on her wall, and headed to the bathroom to prepare for the day.
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Martha passed her father sitting at the dining room table on her way to the kitchen. She reached the pantry, opened the door, and surveyed the cereal.
"Morning," Steven greeted.
"Morning." She found the box of Frosted Flakes, then the bowl, spoon, and milk and her breakfast was made. Steven ate from his bowl of Grapenuts and read the business section of the morning paper.
The paper!
"Are you done with the front page?" she asked anxiously. She couldn't wait to see James' predictions fall flat. She could tease him for acting like a know-it-all and taunt him while he wore the Lakers jersey. Mostly, however, she was excited about the attention their little game promised. He wasn't at school the previous day and they hadn't spoken since the bet was made the day before that. Win or lose, there would be a reckoning.
"Mm-hmm," he answered. "Help yourself."
She rifled through the cluttered pile of Chicago Tribune sections her father had opened or skipped. She found the front page and there at the top was Jeffrey Dahmer's mugshot with the headline 'Dahmer's Just Desserts' next to it. Down the page on the bottom right corner was the second: 'Fire Kills 233 in China Dance Hall.'
