When Time Stops

Chapter 6

I stayed by Jack's body until I couldn't stand the smell. I dragged his body out of the car and carried him all the way to the field we'd had laughing fits in less than a week before. I dug a hole big enough to fit Jack in and gathered some wildflowers that grew in the field. I laid his body down and arranged the flowers around his body so that you couldn't see his fatal wound. I covered his body with the fresh soil with tears in my eyes. I laid down next to the fresh mound of soil and wept. I cried for what felt like days, for all I  knew it could have been. I could feel hunger gnawing away at me but I ignored it, welcoming the pain.
"How could you let me die?"
I looked up to see Jack, except that it wasn't Jack. He looked the same but he had an air of anger around him. My Jack was always happy and smiling. Still, seeing him made the pain of losing him ten times worse.
"You knew you could stop time. Why didn't you save me?" Jack demanded. "I thought you loved me. Apparently, I was wrong or you would have saved me."
"I did try to save you," I sobbed. "Why do you think I haven't let you go. Your death broke me." I yelled.
"Oh please," scoffed Jack. "You only have yourself to blame. If you really loved me you would put an end to this right now."
"What," I whispered. I looked down at my hands still covered in Jack's dried blood, then to the shard of glass that had killed Jack. When I looked back up Jack was gone.
I sat there for days, debating about what Jack had said. What would happen to everyone after I was gone? What would everyone think? Could I live without Jack? Could I face having to tell his parents what had happened? Thoughts like these raced through my head. Jack would appear and encourage me to end it from time to time.
"Well," Jack asked annoyed. "What is are you going to do?"
I picked up the jagged shard of glass. I laid back down next to Jack's grave. I restarted time. I placed the glass shard against my abdomen and pressed it against my skin. I welcomed the pain as I pressed to glass farther and farther into my stomach. I laid there waiting for daylight to come.
I thought about Jack's smile that I would soon see and his laugh that I would soon hear. The sun revealed the clear sky. My eyes started to feel heavy. I thought about how my life had taken a turn for the worst after I found out about my powers. What I had thought to be a blessing and turned out to be a curse.
The throbbing pain began to grow duller and duller. I waited. I saw Jack standing over me, smiling. I grinned up weakly at him.
I let out a laugh as I looked up at the clear, blue, sky closing my tear-filled eyes.