It was impossible to pinpoint the exact moment when time had stopped. Maybe that was because it hadn’t happened with a clash of sounds or a flash of light. No, it had stopped gradually and silently, like a season coming to a close. She'd noticed too late.

Or maybe she couldn’t remember because it had been so long ago.

   All she knew was that the clocks had stopped ticking. The sun had been stayed in its course in the sky, held there by invisible hands. How she missed the dark sky, the way the stars shimmered on cloudless evenings. How long had it been since she’d seen night? She couldn’t remember. There was no way to count.

   Worst of all was the loneliness. It seemed that she was alone in the world, though there were people everywhere she looked. Familiar faces. Strangers. All frozen in time, like sculptures of ice. Their eyes were open, their hair still blowing in the wind. It was eerie to look at them and wonder why she wasn’t like them.

   By all logic, she should have been dead. She’d almost thought she had died when the change took place. But her heart was beating. If it were more reliable, the rhythm could have measured the days.

   Could it all be a dream? If so, it was a strange one; for she could reach out and feel, think, and move. Surely, no nightmare lasted so long.

   It was a beautiful autumn day. The perfect day to take a morning stroll if there had been such a thing as morning. She walked down the street, hands tucked in the pockets of her silver jacket. Just one person amid a crowd of dormant figures.

   A tune followed behind her, she hummed it as she moved. It was a song that had played on the radio, before it too had stopped.

   She looked into the distance, sidestepping a little girl who was reaching for a flower. This dance around each obstacle was effortless, a pattern forged in her memory by routine.

   Something rustled. She stopped mid-step, the dull look in her eyes replaced by hope. The sound had been so quiet, so soft that it was barely audible. But in a world full of silence, it was like an explosion.

   “Is someone there?” the woman called out, spinning in a circle.

   There it was. A definite flash of movement down the street. She ran after it, weaving in and out of the crowd, wishing she could push them out of the way. But it was too late. All was maddeningly still.

   Had it all been a cruel trick of her mind? She stopped, panting with exertion. There’s no way out of this. It was a horrific thought.

   “HELP ME!” The scream tore from her throat.

   A footstep. She spun, and a golden gaze met her own.

   Then a hand reached for her, and whether intended or not, the force of it sent her tumbling.

   A clock ticked.

   The sun raced towards the horizon.

   People were moving around her, pushing, running at breakneck speed.

   There were the stars, then they were gone, a kaleidoscope of sunsets and sunrises before her eyes.

   Days, months, years, all blurring together.

   “Stop it,” she cried, trying to steady the ground beneath her feet.

   But the stranger had vanished, and she was left falling through time.