Routine (2026)

Benedicte’s daily grind is a loop of boredom she only breaks by drifting into fantasies of a warmer, gentler world. During another mind-numbing shift, a customer snaps at her over a poorly made sandwich. Her boss scolds her, so she rebuilds the sandwich while counting the minutes until she can escape—back to sleep, back to dreams where she roams free after tying her manager and that customer to a tree. The next morning, her alarm jars her awake. She’s overslept. And for once, she’s actually late to work.