Zoe swore she'd get block out curtains installed one day. Every day. Sunlight was filtering through the window blinds, which now felt like a self-fulfilling prophecy as she squinted. Flipping over towards the cool darkness of the wall, she could feel the sun beginning to warm her back enough to shuffle out from under her trusty blanket. It was so persuasive, much better than her mom's much riskier strategy of tickling her awake. Was it her body telling her she'd had enough sleep? Was it the sun beckoning to start a new day? The revelation of her father's scrawl had been life-altering and after decoding his message, Zoe felt like she'd opened a secret trapdoor that could never be closed.

She was trying denial on for size, which had worked quite well so far. Waking up with a few groggy lip smacks, she had almost forgotten the events of the day before. Her dad had made contact in his own weird way, making the time freeze seem like a carefully calibrated prank. Shaking her head like a dog trying to dry off, she unruffled her blue locks in preparation for the terrifying first look in the bathroom mirror. Dimple was now trying to enforce a snooze, almost pointing at her phone, which hadn't sounded the wake up alarm yet. Mom may have been chilled, but she wasn't a slacker... prone to getting up at first light. Right now, Zoe's nose was getting the tickle of coffee. A freshly squeezed cup of coffee would do the trick, she thought, extricating herself from Dimple's outstretched paws.

He wasn't budging and why would he? Being a school day, it wasn't like he had to dredge himself out of bed and slap on some clothes. Zoe wished he would go in her place some days when she was ensconced in bed. The ginger charmer would be a hit with the zombos and teachers. Plus a cat dressed in clothes, who wouldn't drop everything they were doing to gawk and coo. Just as she was preparing to stand up, he gave a little sigh as if to say "do we have to?". It was still early, so Zoe kicked her feet into slippers and draped her gown over her shoulders. Slipping her arms into the sleeves as she trudged down the passage, it wasn't long before she discovered the kitchen and her mom peering up from the early edition.

Promotional pamphlets lay across the table, now serving as an extra large coaster for her "What Me Worry?" coffee cup. When it came to their kitchen, the mugs came in large or extra large. Since mom had an undiagnosed addiction to caffeine, saying that she only had three to four cups a day was a colossal understatement. "Sorry if I gave you a fright last night, hun", she managed, locking eyes with Zoe over her quirky reading glasses. "No sweat, ma", Zoe gurgled, still trying to grind into second gear. The moment was etched and she was able to picture the shadowy figure at her door. The shock of dad suddenly presenting himself would have been too much to bear on the back of the previous day's discovery.

"So, school huh?", mumbled mom still scanning the paper for a cartoon or funny story. "Yep, someone's gotta do it," said Zoe reluctantly, pouring herself half a mug of the wakey-wakey stuff. The ever-present fridge buzz was almost as comforting as the warm cup in her hands. "You must be impressing your music teacher with all the practice, yeah?" said mom, now pretending to read the paper. "I'm kind of over that... think I'm going to take a break", Zoe winced as she said the words. She had practiced her heart out and it seemed like a waste to chuck it. She could hear her phone's '1979' alarm tone starting up in the bedroom.

Dimple's ears were twitching in her direction as she entered the bedroom. She swiped up to switch her alarm off and checked to see if there were any messages. Why would there be? She'd cocooned herself the last few months, dedicated to a crash course in guitar. Phoning it in at school, her obsession had distanced her from the usual suspects, trading them in for distant guitar gurus and YouTube rock stars. As if waking up from a deep sleep, she felt like she'd turned a really long corner. "Guess it's just you and me, Mr. Ginger Pants."

The coffee had cooled enough to drink now and the taste was much more satisfying than usual. Maybe she was just living in the moment enough to actually taste it. The evening's shake up had made her feel much more alive than ever and it seemed as though she was ready to get living. Ironically, entering the land of the undead was where she was destined. Now stepping into the sunlight for a while, her grumpy frown started to crack as each sip of coffee seemed to make her stronger. Axe was glinting, Jimi was still gazing at the stars and Dimple was now stretched out on his back, eagerly awaiting some attention. "Aaahhh..." Zoe sighed looking out the window to the tree now swaying ever so slightly in the crisp morning breeze. Just then, the school bell rang.