Whispers

I don't know if anyone will ever read this. I know that's cliché, but I have to start there because it's important. I don't know a lot of things. I don't know how long I've been here; I don't know how long I've spent trying to find a way out; and, most importantly, I don't know how long it's been since I stopped time.

I suppose I should go back a bit and explain that. You see at some point I was offered a wish. The how I've never been clear on, but the why is because I saved a woman's life. I don't know who she was, but in the aftermath and adrenaline of a near-miss, she told me that life was a gift I had given her so she would give me one in return and grant my next wish.

Weird, right? I thought so, too. At the time I laughed it off and went about my day and soon forgot the whole thing.

I probably never would have remembered her comment at all, except that, about a month later, I forgot my wallet at home and had to turn back while I was already late. I wish I could just stop time, I thought to myself. The type of idle thought a lot of us have, I would imagine, except immediately the world was silent and still.

Nothing was moving. Not the people around me on the sidewalk, not the cars on the road, no wind; in front of my face, a fly was still in the air, not going anywhere. I reached up and pushed it to one side where it stayed, still five feet off the ground.

That was at least five years ago. I say at least, because I have no way of knowing beyond how long it takes to do a task. The sun still hasn't moved from its position in the late morning sky of July 8th. I don't remember the year, exactly. It's hard, and a bit surprising the things you forget when you don't use them all the time.

I panicked for a long time, I know that. I ran to my family and friends - I couldn't drive - and they were all frozen in time, as well. Everyone I knew and everyone I saw. My wife. My dog. I was completely alone, and surrounded by people.

If I had to guess, I would say the panic and the sobbing lasted the better part of a year, off and on. When I was tired, I slept. When I was hungry, I ate. Supermarkets were my best source of food as I could fill up on vegetables and fruit, beans and tuna fish.

At least I was being healthy. It was some time after that first year that I remembered saving that woman and the wish. I guess I should have wished to be able to start time up again, too. But hindsight is twenty-twenty, they say.

About two years in, I decided to make the best of it. I was pretty sure by then that time wasn't about to start up again, and I had nothing pressing going on. So I set off exploring. The first and most obvious choice was people's houses. You ever wonder how the other half lives? I don't have to wonder. I've been inside every single house in my city and the surrounding counties. I've slept in a lot of the beds, too. Goldilocks was picky. Lots of beds are comfortable.

A few months into this endeavor, I started stealing things. Just necessities, like a change of clothes or shoes, or ironically a fancy watch. I've always loved watches. Did you know that Hank from down the street had five Rolexes? Why does Hank need five Rolexes? Well, now Hank has four Rolexes.

The loneliness came and went. It seemed to be easier when I would have a lot of one-sided conversations with the silent statues all around me.

That led to a new hobby: positioning time-stopped strangers in very awkward ways. I figured if time ever started up again, things would be hilarious for about five minutes.

After exploring and stealing got boring, I decided it was high time to complete my education. Libraries were fun for a while. Then the universities with their bookstores and lecture halls, reading dense textbooks in the quad surrounded by thousands of bright-faced kids. I don't know how well I understood all of that, but the tests I made the professors mark were filled with positive comments.

I had always wanted to see the world - it would round out my education, after all. I went back to see my wife before I set off. Dropped off some flowers for her and put another little gift on the collection of things I had found for her. I took her hand and put it on my cheek before kissing her goodbye, trying not to look too deeply into her still wide-open eyes.

I began walking to the west coast. It was only a few thousand kilometers. But, as I kept walking, eventually it started getting darker and I realized that I was approaching sunrise. I had forgotten about time zones. Okay. South then.

I began instead heading south and east. Of course, that was about the time that I first heard the sound. Like a flutter, or a patter of the lightest footsteps. Of course, in a world of absolute silence, these things were shocking. Maybe time was starting up again?

I couldn't see anything and I couldn't find anything the time I spent looking, so I just continued on. As I travelled the sound grew louder from behind me. Still nothing there, but I began to feel nervous and then, as this continued, dread.

And that brings me to this moment. You see, at this point, I am in Key West and while it's beautiful here, the sound is now constant. It's also changed. There are now whispers growing louder and louder. So I'm writing this because I need your advice. What should I do now? And what do you think the whispers mean? They just keep saying, "We know you're here."