Pyramid of Lost Hours

Marcus stood before his floor-to-ceiling window on the 42nd floor, watching lightning split the Chicago sky like cracks in obsidian. The storm matched what churned inside him

"You've been a zombie all week," Sarah had told him that morning, pouring coffee with practiced indifference. "Even the dog looks more alive than you."

She wasn't wrong. Their golden retriever, Buster, had more joy in his tail wags than Marcus had mustered in months of working at Sterling Capital

The corporate pyramid rose above him—VPs on 43, executives on 44, the invisible gods above them all. Marcus was somewhere in the middle: comfortable enough to fear falling, disposable enough to know he could

His phone buzzed. Chen, the managing director everyone called "The Bear" for his aggressive temperament and tendency to maul juniors in meetings

"Need the Henderson analysis. Now."

Marcus stared at the message. The Bear could hibernate for all he cared

"What happened to us?" he'd asked Sarah last night. She'd been grading papers, red pen hovering like a weapon

"We grew up, Marcus. We paid bills. We started planning for retirement instead of planning adventures. That's what people do."

"But do they have to feel like they're dying while doing it?"

She'd looked at him then, really looked at him, with something like grief mixed with exhaustion. "Some days, yes."

Another flash of lightning illuminated his reflection—thinning hair, eyes that had seen forty-five years of compromise. The man staring back was a stranger

His father's voice echoed from memory: "I worked the same job for thirty years so you could have choices. Don't waste them being unalive."

The Bear buzzed again

Marcus typed back: "Working from home tomorrow. Family emergency."

"Not approved."

"Not asking."

He packed his bag. The corporate pyramid would collapse without him. The Bear could find someone else to maul

At home, Sarah looked up from her grading. Buster launched himself at Marcus, tail a golden metronome of joy

"You're early," she said

"I'm choosing to be alive," he replied, and for the first time in years, he meant it