A world where time no longer exists

No rising or setting sun. No past, no future—only an infinite now. When time ceased to exist, humanity was thrust into an existence that defied logic, an existence where change was meaningless and eternity was the only certainty.

At first, no one noticed. The shift was imperceptible. People still moved, still breathed, still thought, but nothing progressed. A man reading a book would remain on the same sentence indefinitely, a painter’s brush would hover just above the canvas, never completing its stroke. Conversations became frozen mid-word, laughter hung in the air but never finished. The world was caught in an eternal pause, like a great cosmic mistake.

Science could not explain it, for how could one study what could no longer be measured? The concepts of seconds, minutes, and hours evaporated like mist under the heat of an invisible sun. The tides no longer obeyed the moon, and the seasons ceased their cycle. It was as if the universe had lost its heartbeat.

But consciousness endured. That was the cruelest part. Every being remained aware, trapped in their own thoughts, fully present but unable to act. A baker reaching for a loaf of bread would never grasp it; a child chasing a butterfly would never close their fingers around its wings. A man whispering ‘I love you’ would never hear the response. It was not simply stillness—it was an eternal anticipation, a never-ending approach to moments that never arrived.

The cities stood unchanged, preserved in a silent stasis. The lights in office buildings glowed but never flickered, car engines idled without ever moving forward, and the clouds above remained suspended in an unmoving sky. The world became a museum, its people living exhibits of what had been.

Those who sought answers turned to history, but history itself had crumbled. Without time, there was no before. All that had ever happened was now, and all that would ever happen had already been. Memories blurred into a single, unbroken strand, impossible to untangle. Who were we before time stopped? Who would we have become? These were questions that could never be answered.

Some, in their silent despair, tried to rebel against the stasis. A runner would push forward, willing his legs to propel him beyond the invisible chains of frozen time. But it was useless. The moment he willed motion, he became trapped in that very will, caught forever in the effort of running but never crossing the threshold. In their attempts to escape, they merely imprisoned themselves deeper.

But there were a few who accepted this new existence. They closed their eyes and let go of the struggle. In surrendering to the eternal now, they found peace. They realized that time had never truly existed—not as they had known it. It had been a construct, a way to measure the immeasurable. And if one could release the need for past and future, one could finally become one with the present.

And so, those who resisted remained prisoners of anticipation, while those who embraced the stillness became something else entirely—perhaps enlightened, perhaps lost to the void. No one could say for sure.

But there were a few who accepted this new existence. They closed their eyes and let go of the struggle. In surrendering to the eternal now, they found peace. They realized that time had never truly existed—not as they had known it. It had been a construct, a way to measure the immeasurable. And if one could.

In a world without time, there were no endings, no beginnings, only an endless, unbroken existence.

And so, those who resisted remained prisoners of anticipation, while those who embraced the stillness became something else entirely—perhaps enlightened, perhaps lost to the void. No one could say for sure.