The Man That Paused Time

Ethan Grey was never harmonized with the world. Life's never ending demands bogged him down, and he found himself yearning for one second to catch his breath. One night, during a late working shift at his own office, lightning split the sky. The lights in his office dimmed, and in that haunting second, Ethan's life was altered irrevocably.

His hand tingled as his hand hovered over his antique wristwatch an inheritance of his deceased father. Involuntarily, he rotated the dial counterclockwise. Time around him paused.

The ticking clock was suspended between seconds. Papers were suspended in the air. The hum of the city ceased. Ethan remained motionless in his office, the only thing still moving.

Panic seized him first. Had he gone mad? Was he dreaming? He walked out into the frozen city. Cars were suspended mid-turn, raindrops sparkled like diamonds in the air. The world was his, completely still.

Soon, his fear gave way to curiosity. He walked for hours, maybe only seconds, touring the paused world. He wandered through museums, brushing fingers over invaluable artifacts, and stood on skyscraper heights gazing at a paused sunset. With a turn of the watch knob, time started again. The city revived, none the wiser it had ever stopped.

Ethan quickly discovered the power had limits. The more he paused time, the more fatigued he grew. But the allure was too great to resist.

He initially used it for harmless tricks snuck into concerts, corrected errors at work, even rescued strangers from minor mishaps. But power, however benign, always has a price.

One day, Ethan saw a woman who didn't freeze when time paused.

She stood in the middle of a park, her golden hair gleaming in the stillness. Her sharp green eyes met his. "You’re like me," she said, her voice calm but edged with caution.

Her name was Lena, and she had discovered her ability years before. Together, they tested their powers. She warned him,tampering with time was no game. The universe, she said, always seeks balance.

Ethan disregarded her advice. He started utilizing his abilities to ascend the corporate ladder, fixing errors before they occurred. With every pause, he became more confident, until the day that everything changed.

A vehicle veered into the path of a child crossing the road. Ethan instinctively paused time without hesitation. He dragged the child to safety, his heart racing. But when he resumed time, burning pain ripped through his chest. For the first time, he experienced the strain of manipulating reality.

Days later, foreboding cracks spread through the world when he stopped time, glowing fissures like shattered glass. Shadows shifted where they should not. He searched for Lena, pleading for answers.

"You've gone too far," she said. "Every major alteration undermines reality. If you continue to push, you could break it completely."

Ethan attempted to resist, but the power was a drug. He grew reckless, repairing everything in his life until the cracks got worse and the darknesses grew bolder.

That evening, the world wouldn't thaw.

Ethan turned the watch despairingly, but nothing happened. Panic tightened his throat. He was stuck in a silent, still world by himself.

Until Lena discovered him.

"You can still repair this," she whispered. "But you must release the power."

It was the most difficult decision he ever made. With a last twist, Ethan smashed the watch to the ground. Time bellowed back, the world bursting into motion. His chest hurt, but the cracks and darkness disappeared.

Ethan resumed a normal life. The power was lost, but for the first time, he was free. Lena was his only reminder of that impossible, bizarre world. They went forward together to begin a completely new life together, away from his lost world for once.

Ethan never touched a clock the same way again.
THE END