Time

By Ciara Scott

The morning was still, very still. Arya, a high school junior living with her parents, woke up to prepare for the day. “5:55 a.m.,” she said, “I can’t be late.” She gets ready, doing her usual morning routine, thinking of what the day has ahead for her. She does not realize this day will not be an ordinary day, till she goes downstairs to greet her family and grab a quick snack before heading to school.

“Good morning!” she said as she began making her way downstairs. Receiving no response she asked, “Um, Mom? Dad? Where you guys at?”

Walking into the living room, she glanced toward the clock above the TV. “5:55?” she whispered to herself. “That’s when I woke up though. Oh, whatever, maybe we just have to change the batteries or something.”

Heading towards the kitchen she saw her parents at the table. “Did you guys not hear me? Good morning!” she exclaimed.

Something was off. “Hello?” she said as she walks closer.

Her parents were not moving. They were not dead; but they were not breathing. They were just still, still as the morning when Arya woke up. They looked as if someone pressed a pause button.

No sign of movement. Arya checked their pulses frantically. “They are okay. They’re alive, but how?” she muttered in disbelief.

For an hour Arya sat by her parents trying to get them to speak, move, to do anything. Her parents were sitting at the table frozen as if the word came to a pause; her dad was holding a cup of coffee while her mother was mid-bite.

“Wait. I need to check outside and Leyni,” Arya said to herself. She grabbed her keys and sprinted to her car. Starting it, she headed to Leyni’s house. On her way she spotted more people paused. One man was mowing his lawn, even the grass being cut was paused mid-air. Two young boys heading for their school bus, paused.

“Everyone is paused. Leyni, please do not be, I need someone,” the though aloud.

She made it to Leyni’s house, as she usually does; she always gives her best friend a ride to school every day.

She pulled up the driveway and saw Leyni running toward her, crying. “What’s going on Arya? Seriously, my dad is like… frozen or something.” Leyni cried out, hugging Arya.

“I don’t know. I don’t know. My parents are too,” Arya’s voice choked. She was trying not to cry.

“Arya! What’s going on?”

Arya looked up and heard a strange tone from Leyni. Leyni began to freeze too. Slowly and slowly, just
like their parents.

“Arya! Help!” she screamed with her legs stuck in place, not budging no matter how much Leyni resisted.

“How? How!” Arya cried as she tried to move and pull Leyni.

After realizing there’s nothing they can do to stop it, Leyni spoke with a worried look. “It’ll be okay. You can change this. It’s okay, Arya.”

They hug before Leyni fully freezes in time. After some time, Arya decided to stop crying and change this. She started her car once more and drove around, looking for any sign of life. “I need help. I need help.” Arya muttered for fifteen minutes straight to herself until she made it to the lake. It was the he same lake she and her family along with Leyni always went to during the summer. She parked on the side of the road and just stared off. Fog started to stretch across the lake.

“That’s weird. Everything else is frozen besides this fog,” she said as she got out of her car to check it out. She was desperate for answers and help.

She spotted a figure in the fog and she sprinted for it. “Hey! Hey! It’s okay! We can help each other, just stop!” She screamed, but the figure ran away from her, moving fast through the trees. “Stop! Please!” She yelled, but tripped over a branch. “Ow. I’m bleeding,” she said while looking around for the figure, who was long gone.

She tried to get up, but she fell in realization that she broke her ankle. “You got to be joking. This is not the time.” She cradled herself and cried out again. “It hurts so bad.”

The fog crawled toward her once again, but she was too busy crying to realize. The figure steps out of the fog and reaches its hand for her ankle. Feeling a strange sensation other than pain, Arya whipped her head up. She spotted a blue figure, no face nor mouth, just a smooth blue all over its body. There were no signs of it being human.

Scared, she just stared at the creature in curiosity.

“Sorry about you getting hurt because of me,” the creature said in a light hissing tone.

Realizing this creature was the figure she has seen before, Arya shouted, “I need help! Everyone is frozen.”

“It’ll be over soon,” it says quickly. “Shhh.” It places its hand over her eyes, and she freezes.

When Arya froze, she relaxed and good memories flooded her mind. Then, everything went black.

She woke up once more in her bed. “5:55,” she said. “I can’t be late.”