Curate, connect, and discover
Time stopped.
For a few hours actually.
I only know this because a few of the townsfolk and I were able to move around in this frozen world. Apparently this is a regular occurence, and a few were excited (mostly retail workers and a few of my fellow students) while others saw it as a nuisance.
I noticed that it was only humans that moved around in the frozen world--I could approach angels and demons with no repercussions, or I could see a mermaid in mid arc; I could even catch up to the elusive peacock that runs around my neighborhood.
According to Lucas, the boy who wears welding gloves everywhere, the time stop is for those born under certain constellations. Which one is on a cycle, and apparently its the Dancer’s turn.
Most people use the opportunity to cut class or steal from the convenience store; the more responsible ones use the time to catch up on their work.
I....used it to read. I had a lot of books to catch up on, and hours of time that didn’t pass? Of course I abused it.
Everyone had to take shelter in their nearest building today as a massive swarm of demons flew over the school.
They choked the windows and covered the walls, and the buildings creaked when the motes squeezed.
Misery was known for its high Angel-Demon population, but this was an insane number even for the town.
The demons struggled to get in for a few minutes before they started to disperse. When the demons left some openings the braver kids decided to go and check what was happening.
According to them, Lee Anders was walking around the grounds with no protection at all, screaming at the demons through a megaphone. "Disperse! Disperse! Disperse!" Wandered into the classrooms as more and more demons retreared.
The whole ordeal was 10 minutes long, and class resumed shortly after.
I was outside of the deli with Julia when it happened.
The deli is settled between the second and third lights of a series of four intersections. Every road was empty, and every light on Crown Street, which led directly into the Lower Marcus Ward, had turned green at the same time.
I assume the driver of the green sedan yelled out "Score!" to themselves, since the moment they turned onto Crown Street they immediately started to pick up speed.
They didn't even reached the second light before the hood collapsed onto itself, as if they had hit something. The car spun and struck a mailbox, knocking it over, and then finally stopped. Julia and one other passerby ran to save the person.
Before the police came to try and control the situation, I managed to get a look at the sedan's damage. It was curved, like it was trying to wrap around a pole.
Since there were no cars, I tried to find what the person hit, and was met with empty air.
I did hear....something. I couldn't determine the sound or the source, only that it was getting further away.
An entire forest grew around the town in an hour. It stayed for three hours, before dying, then vanishing completely.
No one could damage the trees, with axe or fire, which were both attempted. About 10% of them had blue leaves, and fruits in geometric shapes.
People who had nothing to fear, like Colem Arth, tried this fruit.
Colem turned into a statue of diamond. A few others grew crystal horns, or had a ringing quality to their voice. One girl, a 7th grader named Nancy Hewitt, had her eyes and tongue turned to crystal. Unlike Constant Lee Anders, Nancy Hewitt could still see and retained the ability to speak. These effects did not disappear.
The Net was shut down today, which was inconvenient since everyone had some kind of project due.
So a girl with pink hair took the router and drew a circle around it with black sand (she carries a bag of it with her at all times....apparently). She whispered something to it, spat on it, then plugged it back in. Everyone had wifi immediately after.
She still won't tell me what she did.
As you remember, Colem Arth died from a cougar attack.
Well today, he walked into class, perfectly fine. Now, I know what I saw. There's no way he could be alive, walking, or even in...one piece.
Yet, there he was. Laughing and joking, as usual.
When 5th period came around, a piece of rebar came through the window and stabbed him through the heart, killing him instantly. While my classmates were shocked, they treated the incident mostly as a nuisance, rather than the tragic event I saw it as. They mostly tried to figure out how Colem managed to "pull that off".
I was sent to the guidance counselor after the incident. Despite being a literal anteater in glasses, Mr. Lingua was good at his job.
The cougar came back today. This time, it had stayed past sunset, so everyone was forced to spend the night. Luckily, the staff stocks sleeping bags for this very scenario.
I was given a good glimpse at why no one is called to deal with the cougar whenever it shows up. One student, I believe his name is Colem Arth, came to MSAA late, and was immediately attacked by the lion.
I will spare the gory details, but let it be known that my hands shook as I typed this, and I didn't get any sleep that night.
Several dogs tried to attack the cougar, only to meet the same fate as Colem Arth. In fact, the only thing that went out into the courtyard and survived was Principal Lee Anders, who decided to wear a jester hat today. He was too far for me to see what he was doing, but he came straight to the cougar and touched it. When he left, he held 8 bloody cougar paws. Where he got them from, I don't know. The cougar still had all its paws, since it walked away fine come sunrise.
The school gave us the next three days off due to the incident.
As school ended and all of the students left their respective buildings, a murder of crows descended and swarmed around a random student, carrying her away. No one seemed to register what was happening, even as she struggled and and kicked and screamed for help.
When I asked Julia what the fuck just happened, she informed me "That's just Margo. This happens every day."