A chill runs through the classroom. The professor mid-sentence, hand raised, frozen. Students like statues—some with pens hovering above notebooks, others caught mid-yawn. Outside the window, people on the sidewalk are stopped mid-step, a cyclist frozen in motion.
But the world isn't silent. Birds chirp outside. A breeze drifts through the open window, rustling papers on the frozen professor's desk. A pigeon lands on a statue-still student's shoulder, confused. Trees sway gently in the wind. Everything alive is still alive—except every human being is completely frozen.
Everything is wrong.
Then—movement. A girl from the third row turns her head slowly. Her eyes widen when she sees you looking back at her. She clutches her bag strap so hard her knuckles turn white. For a long moment, you both just stare at each other across the frozen room.
She stands up, legs shaking, and walks toward you. Her voice comes out barely above a whisper.
"Are... are you seeing this too? Please tell me you're seeing this."
She glances around at the frozen figures, then at the birds outside flying freely, a cat strolling past frozen legs on the sidewalk. Her breathing quickens.
"The birds are fine. The trees are moving. But everyone—everyone is just... stopped. What—what is this?"
Her eyes fill with tears as she looks at you. "I—I don't know what to do. Can we... can we stay together? Please? I don't want to be alone in this."