Controlling Time and Consequences

"Oooh, look at the time!" the little girl said.

The world around them stopped. All movement, all sound. The little girl was giggling, pointing at the man in front of her, and looking at her watch again.

"I've never seen so much time before!" she said, a smile on her face as she watched his eyes widen with fear.

The man in front of her worked as a janitor in the building she was in. He had just finished working for the day, and was walking down through the stairwell to exit the building when he ran into her. She was staring up at the clock on the wall above him, trying to read it. He was too focused on the stairs below him to pay attention to her, but after a while he noticed that she was still there behind him. He turned around and saw her looking at him curiously. They stared at each other for a few moments before she finally spoke.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

He blinked twice, startled by her question. She seemed so young, no more than twelve years old if he had to guess. Her hair was cut short and was dyed purple; he'd never seen anyone under thirty with such an outrageous hairstyle before today. She had a strange jacket on that seemed oddly familiar but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before; it was black leather with metal spikes sticking out from both shoulders and along the bottom edge of the jacket in a seemingly random pattern. It had two large zip-up pockets on either side of it, both of which were open showing that they were empty except for some lint or dirt that had collected inside of them over time. It looked like it would be far too big for her body if not for how much space there was between it and her body, but instead it fit perfectly on her small frame. Black gloves covered both of her hands until about halfway up her forearm, where they revealed a pale skin tone underneath that seemed almost white compared to how well-tanned he himself was from his years working outside every day. Blue jeans covered both legs from just above her ankles to just below her hips; they fit perfectly over what he could only assume were black shoes that looked like they were made entirely out of leather with no really distinguishing features aside from their pointy toe shape and their very high heel shape that curved inward near the bottom end of each shoe so that they formed more of a foot trap than anything else, something that made walking around in them look impossible while also making them look stunningly attractive in his opinion. His eyes kept wandering back up to meet hers every time he thought about looking away; they were blue and beautiful as far as he could tell without sunglasses interfering with his view of them (he always wore sunglasses when outside because he didn't want any skin cancer—no matter how unlikely—to ruin his looks). He felt like there should be more to say than that after being stared at by someone for so long but he couldn't think of anything to say back to her. How did this girl even get into this building? There weren't any kids here today; why would anyone ever bring children here? Why would parents do something like that? He felt his mind start racing as all kinds of thoughts raced through his head about how weird this situation must be for everyone involved in this encounter she seemed determined to prolong by continuing to stare at him without saying anything else back to him other than that one question she asked him earlier. What could he say back to her? Would saying nothing make him seem rude? Or would saying nothing make him seem creepy? Not knowing what else to do, he decided to try using small talk as a way to fill in whatever gap in conversation might exist between them right now because it sounded less intimidating than trying to strike up a real conversation did right now whenever he tried thinking about talking about anything serious or personal with a complete stranger who seemed so young and innocent like this girl did right now despite being here all by herself in this building late at night when everyone else who works here is gone home already for the day and will probably be mad if they ever learned about this encounter because none of them wanted or expected anyone underage like this girl seems to be staying here overnight ever! It wasn't often that people got excited about getting kids pregnant these days! But...maybe this girl wasn't underage? Maybe she wasn't even human?! Was she an alien?! A demon?! A witch?! A ghost?! It didn't seem likely but then again what kind of kid dresses like this?! And what kind of kid talks like THIS?! Her diction was perfect! No mistakes! No stuttering! No mispronunciations! And yet...she seemed so young! So innocent! So childish! What kind of kid can act like an adult at such a young age without betraying any kind of naivete or ignorance when speaking with another adult?! Was she some sort of prodigy child genius who got bored with school and decided to skip grades early in order to show off how smart she was by doing things not many people are capable of doing because most adults lack both the patience and motivation necessary for doing these things without giving up halfway through their projects whenever they face challenges and obstacles along the way?! This explanation sounded possible enough...but...why would someone do something like that? Where did this girl come from anyway? How did she get here? Who brought her here? Where are her parents?! Could whoever brought her here have been responsible for dressing her this way?! Or maybe...this is intentional somehow? Maybe she wants us all thinking those things about her outfit because then we'll think those same things about everything else we see from here on out: whatever clothes she wears next will automatically seem normal because we'll expect bizarre clothing choices from someone who dresses like this whenever we see them dressed normally now whenever we see them dressed normally later! This explanation sounded plausible too...but...why would someone want us thinking those things about someone who dresses like this all the time now whenever we see someone dressed normally later?! If there's no reason why someone would dress like this all the time then maybe dressing like this is some kind of mistake made by someone who doesn't know how people are supposed to dress these days or who doesn't care enough about looking good anymore despite dressing nicely most days out of fear that whatever fashion guru told everyone else that wearing clothes like these were cool might try forcing everyone else into following their lead somehow someway somehow since most people don't want stand out among others anymore these days due becoming scared that going against what everyone else is doing is risky even though being different has gotten more people farther than following trends has done any time throughout history past present future infinity!? This explanation sounded possible too but also sounded crazy! Like conspiracy theory level crazy! Did all kids dress like this these days!? Did they grow up watching anime every day instead!? Did they have sleepovers every day!? Did they have imaginary friends they talked too everyday!? Were they secretly plotting something sinister together against their parents!? Were they planning on becoming assassins when they grew up!? Were they plotting world domination!? Did these weird clothes signify some sort of secret club membership or cult membership or gang affiliation!? These questions raced through his head faster than he could keep track of!

But eventually after staring at each other awkwardly for long enough without anyone saying anything back to each other besides those thoughts racing through both their heads (which were almost certainly identical if not identical), one thought finally won out over all others: "Is something wrong?" The janitor asked aloud once more since neither one could think of anything better to say after staring across from each other for long enough without saying anything back whatsoever except for those initial questions posed by one person toward another person followed by thoughts racing through each other's minds afterward followed by silence afterward followed by repeating those questions again only louder until someone finally decided "no," nothing's wrong after all/the other person finally decided "yes," something IS wrong after all/both people agreed simultaneously "yes," something IS wrong after all but went back into thinking silently afterward again without openly admitting it aloud again whenever none of those thoughts answered any questions posed nor expressed any opinions shared aloud between two strangers during times when nothing better came across their minds during pauses meant only for thinking anyway during which conversations usually happen between two strangers during times when conversations usually happen between two strangers during times when a conversation happens between two strangers over prolonged periods without much conversing happening besides asking questions from one person toward another person followed by answering those questions from one person toward another person followed by thinking answers alone inside each other's heads followed by silence afterward until someone says something requires aloud talking aloud again instead until eventually some sort words are said aloud again until eventually thinking stops altogether again followed by going home afterward anyway since what else is there left for strangers like these two people standing alone together beside each other inside an empty stairwell late at night inside an empty building late at night inside an empty city late at night inside an empty world late at night alone together beside each other inside an empty world late at night alone together beside each other inside an empty stairwell late at night together beside each other inside an empty building late at night together beside each other inside an empty city late at night together beside each other inside an empty world late at night alone together beside each other suddenly meant only had better go home anyway since you're already tired anyway since you're already hungry anyway since you're already bored anyway since you're already ready go home anyway since you're already spent enough time alone together beside each other inside an empty stairwell late at night alone together beside each other inside an empty building late at night alone together beside each other inside an empty city late at night alone together beside each other inside an empty world late at night alone together beside each other somewhere with better lighting anyway where there's food or water nearby anyway where you can make noise loudly enough for your parents audible alarm clock alarm clock alarm