Life At A Stand-Still

Chapter 1

Lily was sitting on her bed in her room, reading quietly. She had almost finished the chapter when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in!" She yelled, putting her bookmark in and closing the book.

Her older brother Cory walked. "Hey Lily." He said. "I was wondering if you wanted to come to work with me today?" Lily smiled.

Cory worked at a clock repair shop. Lily had always been interested in fixing things, but she had never been allowed to go.

"Do you really think I would say no?" Lily asked, almost bouncing with excitement. Cory smiled.

"Mom made us a lunch to take. You have five minutes. I'll be waiting outside." He said, walking back into the hallway.

Lily ran downstairs and hugged her parents. "Thank you so much!" She whisper-yelled, as her little sister Kate was sleeping.

Her mother smiled. "You're welcome." She replied, handing Lily the lunch she packed. "Now go, you don't want to be late."

Lily grabbed it and ran out to where her brother was waiting. "Let's go!" She said, and began the short walk to where her brother's work was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Time Skip~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Lily, can you pass me that wire?" Cory asked, looking down at the digital clock he was working on. Lily passed him the wire that was by her side.

Cory took it and plugged it into the clock. Then, he stood up and clapped his hands. "I think it's done!" He said. "Why don't you turn it on?"

Lily happily flipped the switch. The clock flashed 12:00, before turning black. Lily, who had not yet taken her hand off the switch, felt electricity jolt up her arm.

"Ow!" She yelled, pulling back her arm.

"Are you OK?" Cory asked his little sister, concerned.

Lily nodded. "Just got shocked." She answered him.

Cory sat back down. "Well, I guess we aren't done yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Time Skip~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily sighed in frustration as she stood up from her desk. "Why does 4th grade homework have to be so hard? I only have half an hour until Mom and Dad get home!" She complained to the empty room.

I wish I could FREEZE TIME. She thought. All of the sudden, the birds outside stopped singing, the wind stopped blowing, and she stopped hearing the sound of the babysitter downstairs.

Lily threw back the curtains and looked outside, shocked to see the cars on the road completely frozen. She ran downstairs and saw the babysitter frozen, in the middle of watching a show with Kate.

Hmm. Lily thought. Wait, let me try something. She ran back to her room and closed the door. Then she looked out the window and closed her eyes.

UNFREEZE TIME. She thought.

Then, the birds started singing again, the cars started moving, and she could hear her sister's show playing downstairs.

Wow.

3 Months Later

Lily walked into the building that her parents had rented for the party, smiling at the sound of chatter. It was her 10th birthday, and instead of a party, she asked to have a family reunion. She hadn't seen her whole family in one room in a very long time, so her parents agreed.

Lily talked with everybody until someone shouted, "CAKE TIME!"

Everyone walked over to the table, grabbed a plate of cake, and sat down. Lily looked at the giant pile of presents in front of her.

"Can I open one?" She asked her father.

He smiled. "That would actually be a good idea." He said, taking a box off the pile and placing it in Lily's hands.

Lily ripped open the wrapping paper, setting it next to her. She found a small animal carrier underneath, a mewing sound coming from it. She smiled and peered through the front grate, a pair of blue eyes staring back at her.

She opened the cage and took the small black kitten out, holding it close to her chest. "I love it!" She whispered, stroking it's head.

"It's a 10 week old domestic short-hair. It's a girl." Lily's Auntie Mary explained. "Her things are in this box."

Lily took the box from her Aunt and set it down next to her. Then she looked back at her kitten and started thinking about names.

"I think I'll call you... Blackberry." She said finally, snuggling the kitten up to her face. Blackberry mewed as if she agreed with the name.

Lily opened the box of cat stuff and clipped the purple collar around the cat's neck. She then closed the box of cat things and put Blackberry back in her cage. She was about to take a bite of cake when the ground started shaking.

Lily grabbed Blackberry's cage and things, and ran outside. She set the cage down and turned around to face the building, just in time to see it collapse with her whole family inside.

Tears swam in Lily's vision. She picked up Blackberry and her things, then backed away slowly. She only acknowledged what was going to happen to her when she heard sirens in the distance.

Then she turned and ran into the forest.