Author's Note: I got the following prompt from a friend: "A woman discovers she has the ability to stop time when she gets too stressed." I was given till today to write a 1000 word short story. With a couple minor changes, this is what I submitted. I don't own any of the songs mentioned. Enjoy.
It started on a Thursday. Well, I don't know that it started on a Thursday, but the first time I became aware of it was a Thursday. Which is weird, because like Fat Bob, normally I don't care a ton about Thursdays, it's just a day with some really good shows on. Of course, it started as an ordinary day. I woke up and fixed breakfast while my fiancée Chloe got ready to go to work. I was fortunate enough to have the day off. We made the usual chit chat while we ate, and soon enough I was kissing her goodbye with the promise I'd see her at the courthouse at 1 to get our marriage license.
After she left and the breakfast dishes were in the dishwasher, I decided I'd go back to bed for a bit. I only intended to sleep for an hour or so, but when I woke up and looked at the clock on the bedside table, I found it was already quarter after twelve. So I rushed around and made myself as presentable as possible in the time I had, letting the answering machine take a call from my sister. By the time I was in my car, I found I had twenty minutes to get to town. Normally that would be plenty of time, but since they started the pipeline project to give water to south town, there'd been traffic delays. Not much I could do, I just plugged my phone into my stereo and headed out.
Once I got on the hard road, I inevitably got stuck behind a water truck. That was the confirmation I was at the mercy of Murphy's Law that day, which became evident as I got to the pipeline construction. Traffic was backed up like I knew it would be, but my longer than intended nap canceled my plan to give myself extra time for just such an occasion. I made it to the flagger, only to be stopped to allow cars to come from the opposite direction. Glancing at the clock, I could see that it was doubtful I'd be able to make it to the courthouse by one o'clock, so of course I started to get anxious, but there was nothing I could but sing along with Dr. Horrible as he sang about his freeze ray. And that's when it first happened.
Just as the flagger was about to turn the sign to allow me through was when Neil and I sang the final words, "With my freeze ray I will stop...". And I did. The world froze around me. The clock on my stereo stuck on 12:56. It was eerily calm to see the world on pause. I tried to unbuckle my seatbelt, but to no avail. I couldn't even open the car door. The world was still, but I wasn't. I had to figure out what to do. I took a deep breath to begin to calm myself so I could try and find a solution, and oddly enough that appeared to be all that was needed. As I felt my heart rate lower, my head start to clear, that's when I heard the opening chords of Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and I saw the flagger flip the sign. I put my foot on the accelerator and sure enough, the car began moving.
Thankfully, it was only 1:05 when I found Chloe waiting for me in front of the courthouse. Knowing she was pressed for time as she was using her lunch break to do this, I decided not to tell her about my experience and we went in and got our marriage license. After parting ways with Chloe for the second time that day, I made a quick trip through the Dunkin drive through and headed home. Not having anything pressing since we'd gotten our license, I was able to deal with the traffic much more calmly and made it home without incident. But of course, that wasn't the only time it happened.
With the wedding fast approaching, things got more and more hectic. Granted the big picture stuff was taken care of. but as I'd soon find, the last minute stuff could be just as stressful. The next time it happened was the following Saturday, two weeks before the wedding. Chloe was in bed, I stayed up to work on my vows. I was at my desk, staring at the blinking cursor on my monitor, starting to freak out because I couldn't find the right words. I love Chloe, how could I not find the words to express it? So I started to stress out, and next thing I know, the cursor stopped blinking. The logical part of my mind told me it was just the computer, but when I found I wasn't able to move my mouse, I accepted it had happened again, that the first time hadn't just been my mind playing tricks on me.
Getting up from the desk, i found the chair wouldn't move. Shrugging, I headed upstairs to the bedroom, thankful that the door was open given what I'd learned so far. I must admit it was weird seeing Chloe so still, but at the same time she looked so peaceful that I started to find the words for my vows. I was calm, but she was still not moving, giving no indication she was breathing. But I didn't freak out just yet. I returned to my computer and sat back down. Once I was calm, I saw the blinking start again, and soon enough the clock changed from 11:42 to 11:43, even though to me, much more than a minute had passed. I was starting to figure out the rules.
As the wedding got closer, and there was more to stress about, it continued to happen. Not knowing what Stacie had planned for my bachelorette party had me nervous, but when I started stressing about it, the world stopped and I got a chance to calm myself, and everything was ok. It became a pattern. I'd stress, the world would stop, I'd calm myself down and the world would start up again. I'm still not certain what happened or why, but I'm not entirely sure I care that much. It gives me the time to freak out and not let it affect things so I'm able to deal with them with a level head. I'd count that as a win in my book. I'm just thankful I hadn't been listening to Slipping or Everything You Ever at that particular moment in the traffic jam.