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In Time

A story on isolation

By Jessica WrightPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
1

In the middle of a desert, there is a small bustling town where everybody knows everyone. Based in the early 20th century, poodle skirts and pastel colors are still very relevant. Everyone is in sync, everyone smiles, and everyone moves to the same score. A single woman is a pariah. Not the same- off by a hue, off by a note. The Woman cannot comprehend the town’s lifestyle and cannot sync to the values and understanding that they have. They laugh at her in a togetherness that mapped out how in sync they were. In the middle of a hot afternoon, she tripped. She had been looking at the sky wondering what it would be like to be elsewhere. Her feet tumbled over the other and she was spotted by a couple following their schedule. The woman took a stumble and was out of step. Out of measure. People noticed. Simultaneously they turned to laugh. Rage poured through her and she started to weep.

___________________________________________

There was a diner. Where people laughed, drink, smile, and chewed. The server was a friendly man, who knew his place and knew when to smile. He was programmed how to interact. Ironed to perfection, he displayed the signature white button up long sleeved shirt with black buttons, black slacks, an apron, and a white hat to complete the ensemble.

“Hello, sir.” Two small children walked up to the counter. Their feet a rhythm in harmony and stepping in time, at the same time. Unassuming- they were learning the robotic world they lived in. They did know the server’s name, but it would show disrespect to use it. “We would like two chocolate shakes, please”. The gentleman smiled at them. Grin wide, just doing as he was programmed.

“Well of course! Let me get right to it. Cherry and whip cream, right?” Everyone in the diner cautiously stopped talking and turned just to hear the answer of the children. They are still learning and there is a right answer to the question. He knew the children well enough to know that they knew this, yet still looked out of courtesy. They both simultaneously nodded. Everyone took whip cream and cherry. Only one person didn’t, and she was not in the shop today.

He walked over to the counter and quickly started working on the chocolate shake. It was made of mostly ice cream, add in cocoa, vanilla, and a teaspoon of cinnamon (just for a kick). He reached for the blender and went to plug it in.

CRACK

Everyone jumped. The closer someone was to the noise, the more startled movement they made. They all turned to the server, fury encompassing their faces. This was not in sync with their world.

“Now my apologies, everyone. I’ll go look out the window right now. Everything will be okie doke- and I promise I haven’t forgotten about your milkshakes.” He put more effort into the smile now when he looked at the children. The smile was critical now, a tinge of fear clinging to his spine. He was programmed, but he was human. No one moved from their seats in the diner. The children didn’t move. This was the server’s job to give the information. Curiosity was not in sync with their world.

“Well, look at that! It’s just a barn owl. It’s a scrawny little thing. It must have come from the other side of town. We have a couple trees for some woodland creatures! Bet there are a few deer over there, too!” The unnatural fear was now sheltered with safety in the knowledge that this was no longer his problem. He called the Mechanic. His is the man who fixes things! He fixes lights, locks, cars, air conditioners and people! He can fix this. This was no longer his problem. He was safe.

This was not a planned disturbance and since he gave a good enough explanation, with a resolution to the problem the crowd seemed pleased with the answer. Laugh, drink, smile, chew.

___________________________________________

The crowd around the weeping woman started to chortle. She started to weep and scream and cry and she felt something push at the boundaries of her skull. She grabbed her head and screamed more. Did she really hit her head that hard? She yelled in frustration and her and a small explosion happened in her brain. It didn’t hurt her, but she felt as though she was electrocuted, yet it didn’t hurt her. She stood and went to yell at her opposition. They weren’t her friends, and most certainly not her neighbors, just the people who existed around her.

She turned and saw that the crowd had frozen in place. They were blinking, and breathing, but their eyes were frantically looking around. The crowd that had gathered didn’t move an inch as she idled past them. She was walking anxiously- was this a prank? Did they just want her to move through them so that they could grab her?

She wondered how many people were frozen. Just this group of people? The whole world?

___________________________________________

There was a limit. It was located at the diner where the server was. His face red from fighting whatever force made his body stop in time, he came upon the realization couldn’t get out. His diner was stuck on the very edge of the calamity that the woman had wrought when she screamed and cried. There was some irony of the town moving in a tempo, in its own measure, being stuck and skipping like a bad record. As the server went to plug in the blender, he felt something odd hit him and unplugged the blender, not liking the feeling of whatever just happened. Then… time grabbed him and held him in loop. He went to plug in the blender.

He didn’t want to plug in the blender. The cord-let go of the cord. But he didn’t. And he plugged the blender in and pulled the cord out again. And it happened again. And again. "Is this because of the barn owl? " He thought, " I called the mechanic. I called! I was in sync!"

His eyes looked to the window where he declared a barn owl had just been. The barn owl had gone. Whether someone took it, it had flown away. It had gone.

He went to fight the force that was holding him. . He tried. He knew he wasn’t supposed to worry as he was starting a fire, so he just smiled. Worry was not part of our sync. The electrical fire that he started was directly sourced at the outlet. He tried fighting the force that had grabbed him and put the cord in wrong. He just wanted to make that milkshake. The children need their milkshake. The diner was smoldering, and he could feel his hand catch on fire, but they just needed their milkshake. The fire was blue. He was stuck in a fire and could not leave it. It was so hot, the fire blue.

The crowd in the diner had started 'skipping' as well. Half of them were stuck in a position of getting their belongings, the other half stuck putting cash on the table. If you had come in on a normal day, you would hear the feet match in time and march in sync to the grocery store, maybe to the cinema, depending on when you arrived and which person you watched. Today was different. You couldn’t hear the marching. Only a fire burning, lights flickering, and a man screaming.

The woman ran from the town. She no longer wanting to see the rest of the town and how people faired. She did turn back just one last time, in time to see a black plume, coming just from the edge of town. She shook her head, turned towards the unknown, and kept walking.

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