The fluorescent lights flickered above as they always did, casting the aisles in an eerie glow. You sighed as you pushed your cart through the crowded store, dodging lively families and stressed employees. All you needed was a new bookshelf for your cramped apartment, but as always the maze of IKEA seemed determined to waste your entire Saturday.

As you turned down another identical hallway packed with home goods, you began to notice something strange. The number of other customers had rapidly dwindled, and now you strained your ears for any signs of life aside from the music overhead. A growing sense of unease swelled inside you as you realized the store had seemingly emptied without your noticing, almost as if you had been transported to another dimension entirely.

Gripped by panic now, you began to hurry through the maze of furniture, ditching your cart and beginning to run while nearly tripping over your feet in your rush. The lights above still flickered and buzzed but seemed to be growing dimmer somehow, as if the store itself was performing a daylight cycle into night.