Frozen

She stares at her Gmail account. Most of her contacts are idle. Some are offline. The world is silent except for the humdrum of the washine machine slowly reverbrating through the living room. Tiny droplets of water, the remnants of a heavy shower that poured a few minutes back hang from the window sill deciding whether to fall on the grass lawn below or remain hanging to have a view of the world below. She looks at the digital clock on my computer screen. The needles of time seem frozen. She slowly raises her eyelids and cautiously looks around. Everything is breathless. The rustle of leaves outside has stopped. She looks out of the window to have a glimpse of her neighbours but there seem to be none around. The wide lane outside seems empty and desolate. Strange to be like that at midday, she wonders. Well, there was no sign of civilization as well. Something was happening but what was that?
And she realises she is living in an extended moment. A moment that seems to be lasting more than what it has been destined to. A moment that seems to have an inner meaning to it.
She treads back slowly into the living room. From the corner of her eye, she sees that she had left the television on. Her heart beat stops for a second as the images are still on the screen. In the kitchen, the cooker had stopped whistling. Only an array of steam that rose towards the electric chimney had stopped midway. For a moment, she wonders if this is a dream. She turns slowly towards the dining table. The papers remain unsigned on them. And a lightning strikes her mind. This was a chance - a second chance to wipe out her mistakes. It was a chance given to her to rethink her decision of signing those papers. It was a moment frozen to prevent her from making a hasty decision. It slowly dawns on her. She walks towards the table, leans forward to pick those sheets. In seconds they lie as shreds in her bin.
The cooker starts whistling again. Rain drops seem to be creating patterns on the puddles outside. She sits in front of her computer. He is online. She clicks on his name and sends him a message- ' I am sorry. Can't wait to see you this evening. Let's begin afresh'.
The moment dissolves and time moves on.