Franz didn't sleep.
He lay in bed for most of the night. Staring at the ceiling. Listening to the house settle. The wind tapped branches against the window. At some point he stopped trying.
He got up at 5 AM. Made coffee in the kitchen. The pot was half full from yesterday. He dumped it out and made a fresh one. Watched the coffee drip into the glass pot. The sound was the only thing in the house.
He took the mug and walked upstairs to his study in the west wing.
The study was dark when he opened the door. He didn't turn on the light. He sat at his desk and watched the sun come up through the window.
The sky went from black to gray. Then gray to pale blue. Then pale blue to pink at the edges. The trees outside were bare. Their branches looked like lines drawn on the sky.
He didn't notice any of it.
He was looking at his phone.
The headlines were worse than he expected.
