Arra Audition

[Miss Jack]

-heh- Quite clever.

-taps pencil on clipboard- Ah, yes. Number Seven. Glad you could make it. -clears throat-

Your word prompt is:
No Time

[arra]

Oh god the noise. I threw my arm out of the warm blankets and brought it down heavily on top of the blaring alarm clock, silencing it. My body ached but I still forced myself into a sitting position sliding from the comforting warmth and shivering as my feet hit the cold hardwood floors. A soft sigh escaped my lips as I shrugged off the last vestiges of sleep, pausing a moment to contemplate the nightmare I had been awoken from before blearily opening my eyes to the new day.

:Lords and ladies it's bright!: Had I overslept? My eyes dashed over to the faceplate of my digital alarm clock, the sleepiness and lethargy disappearing instantly with the fear of being tardy. The numbers, however, were gone. My head tilted slightly in confusion before I admitted defeat and stood, making my way out of the bedroom to find a working clock. I peered into the kitchen, eyes seeking out the bright green numbers of my microwave, the numbers that had always been there before, but those numbers were also gone.

:Is the power out?: I shook my head gently in response to my own question. The alarm had gone off after all, had it not? :Besides, I can hear the hum of the refrigerator, and the ticking of the analog clock in the hallway.: I paused, and then laughed out loud at myself, but the noise only made me flinch. Walking far more quickly than I should have needed to, I made my way around the corner to the hanging wall clock. I stood before it, I couldn't tell you now how long I stood there, staring. Finally I exhaled the breath I hadn't been aware of holding and turned away, my brow creased with confusion.

"No time." I said aloud before glancing over my shoulder at the faceless, handless, barren circle that still continued to audibly tick.

[Miss Jack]

Very creative-- I loved it!

Challenge:
Instead of issuing a direct challenge, I'm going to allow you continue on this stringent (in third person) without much pestering from me. However, to make it interesting, you must include the words "in the storm".

[arra]

The front door swung open forcefully as if blown open by a great wind, however the cause was less unnatural. She stepped across the threshold boldly her lips pursed and hands clenched tightly into fists. She was unaware of how long she had spent in her house, searching every available timepiece, prizing them apart, screaming at them, cursing at them, and finally begging them to tell her what time it was, tell her that she wasn’t insane. The sun was low on the horizon but it had not set. While her internal clock and sense of time were dampened by reliance on the age of digital and atomically kept timepieces she was still aware of what a day should be, and with that knowledge was able to keep a sliver of hope that perhaps it was only her clocks.

The street was empty. Not only in the sense that it was devoid of children playing, mothers jogging, dogs barking and horns blaring - it was a void. There were no birds singing, there were no leaves blowing across lawns, even the cars themselves had vanished. If her skin could have crawled off her body it would have, but still she seemed determined enough. Squaring her shoulders she left her porch and made her way down the sidewalks of the town she had lived in for years. Her town. Her ghost town.

It was growing darker when she saw the old woman sitting in the rocking chair. She stopped and stared, afraid that if she looked away the woman would be gone and at the same time afraid to move forward. The old woman continued to rock in her rocking chair in the middle of the road, the only object for what seemed like miles, the only person for miles. Really that was all that counted in the end.

“Karen” The old woman called, her voice sounding like crumbling dried papers blowing together in a breeze. Her voice shattered the silence Karen had known for what seemed like ages and she jumped. She almost ran. It took all of her willpower and self control to remain rooted in the same place as the woman called her again. “Karen, for what are you searching?”

Karen hesitated before trying to speak, but only a rasping squeak came from between her lips. She wetted them and swallowed a few times, trying to make the voice she had ruined in her hysteria work just once more. “W-w-where is everyone? Where are the children and the dogs? Where are the cars and the birds? Where is time? W-was there a storm? Is it a holiday?” She tried to rationalize as she spoke but her voice started cracking as she became frantic for answers.

“Oh Karen, Karen,” said the old woman in a soothing tone. “You must have overslept. Everyone has gone on ahead without you, you’ll have to catch up!”

Karen could only shake her head in confusion. “Where have they gone?”

“Into the storm, of course.” Responded the wrinkled form from her chair.

“Into the storm?” Karen asked incredulously. “But...the sky is blue! I see no storm. The ground was dry!” The old woman began to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. Her laughter spun higher into an insane cackling and as she laughed a great wind arose and broke overtop of Karen, pushing her until she could barely stand. Karen screamed into the wind, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THEM?” but it was too late, and darkness soon washed away the fear and confusion.

[Miss Jack]

Again, very nice take on the words I gave you. Well, well done, you're approved!

[arra]

thank you