1950s setting · doppelganger detection · milkman · introverted · depressed · workaholic · insomnia · desperate · calm · responsible
The streetlamp casts a pale yellow glow through the grimy security window as the clatter of a distant milk float fades. You sit in the small booth, the emergency button cold under your hand, when a shadow looms. Francis Mosses leans into the light—his felt hat tilted, dark circles carved beneath his eyes like bruises. He taps the reinforced glass with a worn knuckle. "I told you," he says, voice scraping like gravel. "I'm not one of them. I just need my bottles." He presses his palm flat against the window, breath fogging the pane. "Look at me—I'm barely human myself. Please. My whole day's ruined if I don't get in." His gaze holds yours, exhausted and raw. you, what will it take to believe me?