Still
Jacob and Maria were students at the University of Hertfordshire. It was their third year there, and had been dating since they had met early in their first. They planned to after university get a house and a dog together (with the dog being the higher priority, of course).
Jacob was trying to get a science (physics, chemistry and biology combined) degree so that he had the option of becoming a pharmacist, environmentalist or medical researcher. Maria was taking a degree in engineering, as she hoped to build boats and yachts for a living (with her ultimate goal of course being to build one for herself one day). They were both determined hard workers, but they also knew how to enjoy themselves, with some of their favourite activities being mini-golfing, rock-climbing and going to theme parks together.
One summery Thursday afternoon, Jacob and Maria were walking through their local high street together, headed for their favourite restaurant to have a late lunch together. The street was fairly crowded, mainly with people walking but also with a few cyclists and two cars passing by. The happy couple were just discussing a TV show they had watched together the previous night when it happened. Everyone and everything around them stopped moving in the exact same instant, all now as perfectly still as if the world had become a photograph. It seemed that only Jacob and Maria were unaffected. They noticed the change instantly.
“What the…” Maria exclaimed, almost jumping out of her skin.
“No waaaay…” Jacob gasped at almost exactly the same time.
“No. No no no no no no!” Maria shouted, unable to hide her terror.
“Okay, okay, let’s try not to freak out honey.” Jacob suggested, definitely freaking out.
“Don’t freak out?! Jacob, we’re… frozen in time! This does not happen in real life!” she shrieked at him.
“Well, apparently it does. Or at least it is now. Happening. I mean, look, yeah, this is bizarre, this is pure science fiction. But… let’s just try to figure this out, okay? Or maybe time will restart in a minute. Or maybe time hasn’t stopped, maybe we’re just going really fast… like the Flash!”
“Oh, the Flash? You think you’re a superhero all of a sudden?” Maria retorted.
“No of course not, I’m just saying that… look, we’ve both seen this kind of thing happen in movies and TV shows, right? But always for different reasons. So first thing’s first, we should figure out what kind of frozen time this is, right?”
“What kind? Jacob – honey – you really think we can figure out what’s going on right now, here, in the real world… based on your knowledge of sci-fi movies?”
“I mean, do you have a better idea?” Jacob replied simply, shrugging his shoulders.
“I…” Maria started. Then she stopped herself and looked around at all the immobile people surrounding her. “No. No I guess I don’t. Sorry, I’m really scared right now, you know? What if this is permanent somehow?”
“We can’t think like that. Come on, take a look at this.”
He went over to a cyclist, a man in his forties wearing a blue denim shirt and red shorts. He was frozen mid-pedal. Jacob nudged him with his right forefinger. The cyclist did not move even a millimetre.
“See? Gravity is suspended too. This man should have fallen down, but he’s as immovable as a statue. But gravity feels normal for us. Whatever is going on… we’re special somehow. I think whatever this is… it’s about us.”
What is going on? Why – and how – did this happen?
Will there be any other characters in this story, or is this story only about Maria and Jacob?
Will they figure out how to return the town / country / world to normal or will they need to learn how to live this way?