Odd, the girl thought as she stood in the middle of the street.
It was midnight and no one was out. Not a single soul. Not a one car. Not even a solitary, stray cat. The moon, being only a small sliver of silver, offered little light. And though she knew some people must occupy the apartments around her, she could not hear the soft ba-bump, ba-bump, of a heart slowed down with the heavy blanket of sleep. Nor could she hear the soft flutter of their breath.
It was as if the entire world had gone completely and utterly still.
She put a hand to her own chest, her heart however was not beating.
As the realization hit her, she froze. And then sprinted home, her hair flying behind her.
She wrenched open the apartment door. The messy apartment she always knew.
But it wasn't lively like it always was. There was no laughter, no breathing,no heartbeats, no whispers in the dark.
The silence was deafening. She ran to her parents' room. They were sitting there frozen, mid-laugh. The TV had frozen on a scene from a comedy show. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes and choke her.
She remembered last night, crying herself to sleep without anyone knowing. She had wished it would all stop.
And it had.
And now she was alone.
