Daily story, September 21, 2025

Under the wallpaper was wallpaper, and under that was wallpaper, and under that was half an inch of crumbling filler, and under that was scrunched-up newspaper, yellowed where it hadn’t turned black from damp. I pulled it out and saw that it from the day of my birth, like it was one of those reproductions you give someone for a big birthday. I opened it up as gently as I could. It wanted to be read: the creases seemed to disappear as I flattened it out. The headline said: DICKHEAD STRIPS WALL, GETS CAUGHT IN TIME LOOP. I packed the paper tight into the void in the wall, and spread the filler over it.