The clock blinked 7:02 a.m. again. Same gray light on the curtains, same five kids in the same sleeping bags, same syrup on the same five plates. The pancakes tasted like wet cardboard, just like before. Pip counted on her fingers. "Guys," she whispered, "this is the fourth morning. The fourth time. We keep starting over." Mara dropped her fork. "Okay. So how do we make it stop?"

"The clock," Pip said. "Every reset happens when it hits 7:02. Maybe if we mess with the clock, we mess with the loop." The five of them crowded around the little alarm clock on Mara's dresser. It hummed softly, way too warm to touch.

Mara yanked the clock's plug out of the wall. The numbers stayed lit anyway. 7:01. The hum got louder, filling the whole room. "It's not even using the wall," Theo breathed. "Then what's powering it?" The clock ticked toward 7:02 all on its own.

Pip pressed her thumb on the screen and held it. The numbers froze at 7:01. "I'm holding it back," she gasped. "But it's pushing. It really wants to hit 7:02." Her arm shook. "I can't do this forever. Somebody figure out the rest, fast!"

Pip's thumb slipped. The clock jumped to 7:02. But this time they were all standing, all wide awake, all touching the clock together. The hum cracked like ice. The numbers spun wild, then went dark. Warm yellow sunlight poured through the window. They were free.