When I was told that time would stop that afternoon, right in the middle of rush hour, I could not help believe it. After all, it was told to me by a young girl who had been institutionalized since she was 4 years old because she would not speak. Alicia was her name and I had never heard her utter any sound, not even a groan nor a sniffle when she cried.

The hospital had been gripped with what the doctors called "mass hysteria" since noon the day before. In-patients had been restless for weeks before then. Out-patients would refuse to step into the observation rooms and would just demand that their prescriptions be filled out at the receiving area. The doctors and the nurses had no clue about what was going on; they attributed the pandemonium to the approaching full moon.

I knew what was happening. Or at least I thought I knew. I tried to tell them, but I was an in-patient. Yes, so, no one really cared what I thought I knew.

When Alicia told me all about it, I didn't know for sure whether she was really speaking or if it were another one of the Voices. I had to put my hand to her mouth to make sure the sounds really were coming out of it. I had to whisper to her, "Don't scream," when I did coz I didn't need to get into any more trouble. But she sought me out, and was quiet.

I had a little trouble listening at first. I had to concentrate on her mouth. There were so many other sounds, other words, that I had to read Alicia's lips to understand what she was saying. What only she was saying.

Finally I understood. So time would stop. Soon. I tried to tell someone, like they say you should.

Alicia laughed when a nurse forced me to take a Pill. Silently, of course, she laughed. "Art, not another one of your stories," the nurse had said.

Before I fell asleep, I vowed I would wake up just before time stopped. I had always wanted to be a witness to something. The Voices promised to wake me. They wanted to see too.

Alicia lay with her head on my shoulder and started to cry without a sound.

She was my sister, did I tell you that? She never spoke because she had never heard. Me? I hear too much.