Work Text:
All of a sudden, the plants had stopped growing.
She buried the seeds in the earth — she had the filth under her nails to prove it. And yet, no matter how much she tended the soil, no matter how long she sat, and waited, and bided her time, the sprouts never came up. The trees never bore fruit, yet the flowers never wilted.
Maybe it was a lack of nutrition, she pondered from down on her scraped knees. Maybe the recent weather hadn't given it the right conditions for it to take root.
The girl gazed up into the sky in search of an answer. The white light stung her eyes; beads of sweat that glistened on her forehead remained static.
When was the last time it rained? She couldn't recall.
How long had she toiled beneath this same scalding afternoon sun? If she'd been here no longer than a day, or if decades had elapsed, it all felt the same. The wind didn't blow. The clouds above her were frozen in a final moment without beginning nor end.
There was no "before". Into her mind was burned a permanent and unchanging image.
The clock on the wall in her bedroom had its hands raised to the heavens.