She felt a bit strange. I mean, she knew all the risks, but maybe being chosen for this opportunity wasn't as great as it was made it out to be. They didn’t even tell her what the drug was intended for, only that she was the perfect candidate (and that the pay would be great). After they administered the drug, she was allowed to go. She gathered her things and rushed to the subway station, eager to get home.
Her head was swimming and time seemed to slow. The cars whizzed past as she dodged the blows of umbrellas cracking open and men waving their hands at the sea of taxis. She made her way into the swarm of people trying to get into the subway, all fighting to get home. She noticed subtle things around her, the man with the low brim hat lighting his cigarette, the scrappy looking dog standing quietly on the corner, the peeling yellow paint of the taxi cab. She escaped the rain to catch the number 3 train, shuffling in with the hundreds of others trying to get home. As she sat down, the train lurched forward, upsetting a newly born on her right and awakening the onslaught of train solicitors.
She got off at North Central Park. Everything was freshly damp, but not wet. The train ride took twenty-two minutes. It was only four minutes slower than usual, but today, it felt like hours. Today was a normal Tuesday, but something seemed off. She checked her watch. It just got dark and the famous New York rush hour had just started. As the sun went down, the city only got brighter. Everyone was out and about, but everything seemed muted. She didn't normally watch the city come to life, but today was different. She didn't know why, but she felt that, today, it was important. It wasn't often that she watched anything, it was either her desk, the train, or her apartment. She couldn't afford to admire anything anymore. As the sun sank below the horizon, the suits went home and the youth filled the streets. The neon signs buzzed to life. The coordinated dance between the stop lights and the commuters began, with the occasional honk to remind those who stepped out of line.
The lights lit up one by one as she walked home. She stayed close to the park, not daring to cross the tree line into the urban jungle. She checked her watch again. Had it really been only 15 minutes? Shrugging it off, she took the long way home, the way that cut over the bridge she liked and through the tunnel that was her father's favorite. As she walked, a sudden sensation came over her. She felt pressure on her skull, like invisible hands on her head. The noises around her became muffled and slurred. Things around her seemed to move in slow motion. Her watch confirmed her suspicions. Shrugging it off, she pulled her hood over her head and wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck. It was almost May, but the air thought it was still February. The paved path eventually returned to earth. Everything seemed so familiar to her, yet not at all, like a dream once remembered. The soft dirt wound through the park, skirting the edge of the pond and wrapping itself around the pine trees.
She found herself on a paved path again. It was shared by an old couple on a nearby bench and a young man with his dog. No one was moving. They all stared blankly in front of them, like they were watching the news on a nonexistent television set. As she crossed the bridge that offered a view of the pond, she paused to look over the water. It was as beautiful as ever, especially tonight. The surface seemed stiller than she'd ever seen it before, like it had frozen over. She noticed the subtle things around her, the silent pair of geese next to the lily pads, the dampness than hung in the air. It all seemed so familiar, yet she couldn't remember from where.
As she sat down, she could feel the strange sensation coming over her, the same one as before. She checked her watch again. It had stopped moving. What seemed to be a long evening stroll had only taken 20 minutes. But she had to get home, her sister was going to get worried. She felt a certain stillness in the air. As she stood up, she noticed a new shadow. He was wearing a casual suit and a hat slung over his eyes. Unlike the others, he was walking. Scared, she immediately started for home, taking slow steps at first and slowly speeding up until she was at a brisk walk. The man’s footsteps slightly off-set hers, the same way that a shadow followed you into the dark. A sudden chill ran through her spine which immediately turned to fear. The city was dead silent except for the pitter-patter of her own footsteps and the those of the man. She felt a certain urgency in the air as she hurried home.
Her pace sped up as she got to the tunnel. What used to be a reminder of her youth suddenly became a terrifying reminder of her mortality. The rhythm of her shoes hitting the ground caught up with the rhythm of her heart pounding against her chest. As she escaped the tunnel, her shoes caught an uneven edge of the concrete where the new and the old sidewalk met and her body met the ground beneath her. Her pained breaths were accompanied by the soft hum of the sodium street lamps. Her shadow had caught up with her.
“The test is over," said the man as he approached her limp body.
The bald man had a machete hanging limply by his side. Her eyes squeezed shut right as he raised the blade over his head.
She jerked awake. She was lying on the sidewalk, man towering over her, machete in the air. Confused, she got up and looked around. The entire world was at a stand still, birds frozen mid-flight, cars stuck in the middle of intersections, planes suspended in the air. A sudden sense of freedom came over her. She cheated death. She had all the time in the world.
She spent the next few weeks getting accustomed to living in a stand-still world. The sudden lack of responsibility and sense of freedom came at a price; the sun never rose, she never aged, resources became limited. Day after day, life was the same. The vibrant city in which she had once imagined living slowly became hell on Earth. As the days went on, she was driven more and more towards insanity. She swore she saw people disappearing down a subway tunnel or through store entrances. She often heard the rumble of cars starting and planes soaring overhead. She would answer her cellphone, talking to herself for the sake of conversation.
After living years in a frozen world, she listened to the man. She returned to the place at the park and turned to the machete to end the test, just as originally intended.