Index: <<Back · Brian Braddock's Story Page · Back to Main Page · Next>>
Poor Amanda, I thought to myself. No wonder she cried so much. I had just used a new wrinkle to my power to somewhat devastating results. Amanda's love of her life and ultimately been a lie. I asked her more and more questions, delving deeper into her personality and being.
I found out that Amanda was 27 and was with Roger, her ex-husband, since high school. They were married just three years ago but he had just suddenly left her three months with a note telling her that he was gay. She sold the home they owned in Los Angeles and she moved out here. She had been strong for the first month, but all of the uncertainty and the lack of closure had finally caught up with her and she was now succumbing to her bouts with depression. She had stopped working out, was eating poorly, and her job performance was suffering. The more I had her reveal about herself, the harder it got to keep her in the frozen world without her breaking down emotionally. She still stood at attention, naked, arms at her sides, legs together, head up, eyes forward. But around those eyes, I could see tears beginning to form.
I knew that this couldn't be good for her, so I took the chance and gave her a command to let her emotions go. Immediately, her eyes blinked and the tears flowed. She put her hands to her face and began weeping. She crumpled to the ground into a ball and began weeping. I quickly ran over to her and held her in my arms. She clutched my arm and began crying into my shoulder. I stroked her head and caressed her hair with my hands, whispering, "It's okay, Amanda, it's okay," over and over in her ear. She began to wail a bit louder now and I could feel the hurt in her cries and how they had been longing to escape. I don't know exactly what was happening since I looked out the window across the hall in her bedroom at a bird frozen in mid-flight and realized that we were still in the timestopped world. But as suddenly as she had come to life, she had stopped.
I pulled away from her and she was again frozen in time. Her eyes were closed like she was sleeping. Her mouth was slightly open and the tears frozen on her cheeks. I wiped them clean with my fingers and carried her into her bedroom.
I placed her on her bed and adjusted her so that she was lying flat on her back. I didn't bother to put any clothes on her, but tucked her in bed up to her chest. I placed two hands on her temples for focus and concentrated. I placed thoughts in her mind that she would be happy and that would begin thinking that she was better off without Roger. I commanded her to take better care of herself. She would exercise more, eat better, dress herself up, and try to date more often. She would have a better outlook on her life and her prospects. I wasn't a therapist by any means, but I thought that this would be enough. Although I thought that the touching of the temples was very Vulcan-like and hoped that there would be a better way of doing this for someone else.
As soon as I took my hands off of her head, her eyes snapped open, frightening me. Did I hurt her? Did I fry her brain by accident? I waved my hand in front of her face with no response. The world was still frozen around me, but was she? There was only one way to find out. I stepped into her closet, leaving the door open just a bit so I could see her, and restarted time.
Amanda lay there for a moment, not moving. I then saw her eyes blink once and soon after that she stretched and sat up in bed. As the blanket fell from her, exposing her breasts, she looked around in confusion. As I was about to freeze time again and try to fix what I thought was a problem, she sprang out of bed humming a bit and began checking her nude body in the mirror.
"You've gotta start working out again, girl!" she said to her reflection. "You're starting to get a little flabby!" She began to stretch and started doing jumping jacks to her reflection. As soon as her hands clapped above her and legs spread below her, I froze time.
I exited her closet and walked up to her. A hint of a smile was crossed her frozen face. I kissed her on the cheek, reached around her to cup her breasts one time and turned to leave. It was time to let the world move around for a while, and time for me to get some sleep.
I slept for what felt like days. The use of the power and the complexity of the tasks had really drained me and I hadn't even bothered to stop anything. I let the hustle and bustle of the world continue on without me. A fire engine roaring by had tempted me to freeze the world, but instead, I rolled over and put a pillow over my head and went back to sleep.
When I finally woke, it was dark out. My head was fuzzy like I had just gotten over a cold, but I had felt much better than I had before. I walked over to the bathroom and hopped into the shower. The warm water was like a baptism for me. I let it run over my head and face, down my back where it soothed my aching bones. I could hear through the vents above me what clearly sounded like singing. It was Amanda. I smiled at her newfound happiness.
As I stepped out of the shower, I got a glance of the clock in the living room. It was about 8 o'clock. What day was it? I thought as I brushed my teeth. Talk about the ultimate in jet lag! I cleaned myself up, shaved, fixed my hair, and got dressed. I fixed myself a sandwich and headed out the door.
As I got out of the hallway, I saw my next door neighbor, Kelly, struggling to get into her door. She was dressed in a business suit with a short black skirt and high heels. She was not wearing hosiery. She had two bags of groceries in her arms and was trying in vain to turn the key in her lock.
"Let me help you with that," I said, running over to her and grabbing the bags from her arms.
"Oh thanks so much," she said opening the door. "I don't think I would have made it."
"Glad to be of service," I said as I stepped inside the apartment that I had seen many times, but never in the "moving" world. "Where do you want these?"
"Just put them up on the counter," she said. She had one hand against the wall and was taking off her shoes. "Thanks again for your help."
I walked up to her and to the door. "No problem. It was my pleasure, really."
She had removed both of her shoes and stuck her hand out toward me. "Kelly. Kelly Taylor."
I hadn't until this moment realized that Kelly and I had actually never met. I took her gently and shook it. "Jonathan Summers. Call me Jon."
Kelly flashed that fabulous smile of hers. "Okay Jon, I will." She was so stunning. "I guess I'll be seeing you in the hallway from time to time." She was still smiling. I snapped my fingers. I couldn't help it.
The world halted. I reached into my pocket for my pocketknife and lifted up her mini skirt. She was wearing a pair of white French-cut panties. I clipped the sides and took them off of her. I caressed the ass that I had caressed so many times before and kissed the lips that I knew so well. I placed the cut panties in the hand that she had extended toward me, took her hand once again, and restarted time.
"Oh!" she yelped after realizing the tattered material in her hands was what was left of her panties. She quickly withdrew her hand. "Sorry about that. I don't really know...."
I held up my hand and smiled. "No need to apologize. I'll just be leaving." I waved at her as I walked out the door and she closed it.
As I walked down the stairs I could hear her say to herself, "What the hell was that? You see a cute guy and you want to give him your panties right away?"
I smiled and ran down the stairs, ready to take a deep breath of the night air.
Index: <<Back · Brian Braddock's Story Page · Back to Main Page · Next>>