The Next Morning

You wake up to find a small parcel on your nightstand. It's addressed to you with no return address. You figure your stepmom put there earlier. You sit up, yawn, stretch, and pick up the parcel. It had the stopwatch in it. "Damn, that was fast."

You get up, scratch your balls through your boxers and push the plunger in. You feel like you were shot out of a cannon for a second. You notice you hear a faint white noise but nothing else. You walk to the window and look out. A butterfly is very, very slowly flapping its wings outside the window. A plane in the sky looks like it's not moving as does a car on the road.

You walk downstairs to the kitchen and see your stepmom looking frozen as she's pouring a bowl of beaten eggs into a frying pan. You walk over and wave your hand in front of her face, but nothing.

You find you can move her arms and position the bowl above her head and turn it so it's directly above her head and no more than a half an inch above.

You grab a glass from the cabinet and a jug of orange juice from the fridge and take a seat. You push the plunger again.

You feel the sensation you felt earlier only it's like you're coming to a screeching halt though you were seated. Your mom is stunned by the position of her arms, and she drops the bowl so it falls on her head like a hat, egg yolks dripping down all sides of her head.

"What the hell, Isabella?" you ask as your stepmom removes the bowl from her head. "Is that new hair care technique?"

Isabella puts the bowl on the counter, turns off the stove, and reaches up to feel the eggs on her head. "I...it...I...."

"What?"

"I have no idea what happened?" She hurries out, but just as she is about to leave, you stop time again. She is wearing loose fitting linen pants and a light green V-neck baggy t-shirt. You take an egg from the carton on the counter, put it down the back of her cream-colored cotton panties, then smack her ass hard to break the egg. You go back to the table and restart time.

"The fuck?" you hear coming from the hall.

You pour your juice then walk to the window. You see your neighbor in her backyard doing yoga

You dangle the pocket watch from its chain. Just then Emily come in yawning. She's wearing gray gym shorts and an oversized t-shirt with Minnie Mouse on it. "What up, loser?" she asked. "What's with mom?"

"What?"

"She just stormed past me with egg all over her head. Did you do that?"

"Yeah, I poured eggs all over your mom's head."

"Whatever. She grabbed the jug of juice off of the table and took a swig from it.