Eleanor’s hands trembled slightly as she held Caldwell’s journal in her lap, staring at the cryptic phrase scribbled across the last page: *"Time is a circle. Break it, and everything falls apart."* The steady ticking of the pocket watch on her table was a constant reminder that she was entangled in something far beyond her understanding. She hadn’t slept. Her mind had been racing, filled with half-formed theories and the weight of questions she was desperate to answer. But now, in the silence of the early morning, memories began to creep into the edges of her thoughts. She blinked, as if trying to shake them off, but they wouldn’t leave. Her apartment grew stiller, the shadows lengthened, and suddenly she wasn’t in her kitchen anymore. Eleanor was eight, and the living room of her childhood home felt enormous. Her mother was bustling about, setting out dinner plates, her hair tied back in a loose bun. Her father sat in his armchair, reading the evening paper. Eleanor, small for her age, sat cross-legged on the floor, her favorite book spread out in front of her.

“Eleanor, sweetheart, come set the table,” her mother called, the familiar warmth in her voice.

Eleanor hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave her imaginary world of knights and dragons. But the sound of her mother’s gentle footsteps crossing the wooden floor pulled her back to reality. She closed the book reluctantly and stood up. Her mother’s smile was a beacon of love, reassuring and kind. As Eleanor handed her the plates, she felt the soft brush of her mother’s hand on her hair—a fleeting gesture of affection. Dinner was always a peaceful affair in their household. Her father was quiet, reserved, but every now and then, his eyes would twinkle with humor as he shared some dry observation. Her mother would laugh, her laugh like music, filling the space with warmth. And Eleanor would sit there, absorbing it all, her heart brimming with the comfort of home. That was before everything changed—before her father got sick. The illness had crept in slowly,...