Frozen In Time
Atticus
Nathan was furious, he stormed out the door. “You know what!?” he yelled at his mother. “I don't care anymore!” He walked off toward the beach, trying to blow off a bit of steam. He had just gotten in a heated argument with his mother about social media. Nathan thought that 12 was an old enough age for having social media but his mother thought differently. As he walked along the beach, he thought to himself about his predicament. I could just get it without her knowing he thought but just as the thought came, he quickly dismissed it. He didn't want to disobey his mother, but he thought that she was way too paranoid about it all. As he continued walking his thoughts slowly drifted away from his anger and he began to calm down.
Right as he was about to turn back and start heading home, Nathan noticed something strange in the sand. As he looked closer to inspect it he noticed that there was a random black patch of sand. He brushed away the sand to see a small marble-sized rock. The rock was mat black, and seemed to absorb all the light reaching it. Intrigued by the rock, Nathan picked it up. It was extremely heavy for its size and very smooth. He looked up, confused a little, then his heart skipped a beat. All color was gone, everything was black and white! He blinked, but nothing changed. The world seemed quiet, and dim. Nathan felt a rush of dread and depression without seeing color. He had always taken advantage of color until this point. As he came out of his trace he was even more confused. He blinked again, and still, nothing changed. Alarmed he spun around, looking out toward the waves, but there were no waves, the ocean had seemed to have been frozen in place. Even more frightened, Nathan turned and ran as quickly as possible back home.
When he got home he realized that his family was frozen in place also. Not knowing what to do, Nathan sat down on the couch. Realizing that the stone was still in his hand he set it down on the table in front of him and tried to gather his thoughts. He was overwhelmed by what had all just happened in such a short span of time but, he wasn't sad or afraid. Nathan thought to himself about what he would do. It was strange not seeing color, he’d seen pictures and movies without color but that was completely different. He decided to get up and go to his room where he could think better, even though there were no distractions. As he laid in bed, Nathan had an idea. He got up, put on a new pair of shoes that were not filled with sand, grabbed the key to the car from the countertop, and got in. Nathan had always wanted to drive, and now was his chance.
As he turned on the car his heart began to beat faster and faster. His grandpa had taught him the basics but he had never been allowed to actually drive. As he put his foot on the gas, the car lurched forward crashing into the garbage cans. He had forgotten to put the car in reverse! He quickly got out making sure that he didn’t damage anything other than the trash. Assured he didn't do any permanent damage he got back into the car, put it in reverse and pulled out of the driveway. It took him a good 3 minutes to back the car out and get it on the road but Nathan was very happy with himself. He decided that he would just drive around for like 5 minutes then go back home.
As Nathan drove, he tried to dodge all the stopped cars in the road but was not that best at it. He could barely see over the front of the car and not being able to see color made it strangely hard. As Nathan drove around the cul de sac, he realized he was going a bit fast. As he looked at the speedometer, which was at eye height, he realized that he was going almost 40 mph. He felt a surge of adrenaline, it took him a second to find the break but once he did he pressed down as hard as he could. The stopped, flinging Nathan forward, lucky the seat belt locked and prevented his head from hitting the wheel, but it cut into his neck.
As Nathan got his bearings, he immediately felt the burning sensation on his neck, he put his hand to the cut, then looked at it. His hand was filled with blood. Seeing things, he got very light-headed. He could feel his heart beating in his head. He stopped moving for a second. Then got out of the car and sat down on the curb. What was he going to do, he asked himself. He realized that he was probably only a quarter-mile away from his house, and decided to just leave the car, and deal with that later. As he walked home, he consciously felt the cut on his neck. Right, when he got home he went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He realized that it was barely a cut, and was just bleeding a lot. He put a few bandaids on and a hoodie to cover it up.
As he went into the living room everything was still the same. Gazing around he saw the stone, just as he had left it on the table. He picked it up and went to his room. Sitting down he examined the rock. After just staring at the rock for a few minutes, Nathan had no clue what to do. At this point, he was missing his family, and with everything being black and white, there was a deep sense of gloom. After trying as many things as he could think of to reverse the curse or maybe power given to him by the rock, he began to lose hope. Nathan sat there, defeated.
A tear began to roll slowly down his face. What if I will never be able to talk to my family again, he thought. What if I live the rest of my life alone and without color? He had almost lost all hope, until he thought of one more thing. It was a long shot but what if, he could break the stone..would this all end, or would it just permanently seal his doom? But it was his last chance.
First, he tried to crush it by hitting against his desk, but there wasn't even a scratch. Then he tried hitting with his dad's hammer, but still, it didn't even dent it. Furious, He threw it aimlessly, hitting the stove. Then an idea sparked. Maybe he could light it on fire. With no better ideas, he picked up the stone and turned on the stove to the max. As he set the stone onto the stove, it began to crackle. It seemed to Nathan that the stone was becoming whiter but, in reality, it changed to a vibrant lava color.
As Nathan stood there watching the stone brighten he slowly backed away, making sure that if the stone exploded or something he would be safe. Just as the thought crossed his mind, the stone burst apart in flames, and as it fell to the floor, the life around him resumed. Nathan looked around, he saw that the color had been restored also. He smiled, then he heard his mother shout. “Nathan, what are you doing!” she yelled at him from the other room.
Debating whether he should tell his parents not, Nathan decided that he would someday but, he knew that they would probably just think he’d gone mad. “Sorry mom, I ugh... just dropped a pan,” he replied.
