Extra Time

A quiet moment when time seems to pause, and a writer keeps going.

The clock on the wall had stopped.

No one noticed right away.

The room looked the same as it had a few minutes before. Papers on the desk. A coffee cup that had already gone cold. The quiet ticking that was usually there had disappeared.

But everything else kept moving.

The man at the desk kept writing.

Outside the window, a bird landed on the fence and tilted its head for a moment, like it was studying something.

A car rolled slowly down the street.

Only the clock had given up.

Eventually, he looked up and noticed the still hands.

Three seventeen.

He watched it for a moment.

Then he smiled a little and went back to writing.

Some moments deserve a little extra time.