When Time Forgot to Move
The clock above the church tower struck midnight.
At least, it should have.
Elias watched from his window as the second hand twitched once, then froze. The sound that usually filled his nights—the ticking of clocks, the hum of refrigerators, even the faint buzzing of streetlights—collapsed into silence. The world outside his apartment seemed suspended, as if someone had pressed pause on reality.
