You're the anomaly #asmr #suspense
Channel: Panic Room Press
Date: 2023-10-17

**Story**

Yumiko was late for work that morning, but as she stepped out of her apartment building, she noticed something odd. Her usually bustling New York City street was quiet. No honking cars, no people hurrying to and fro, just an uneasy silence.

She checked her phone, expecting a notification about some city-wide event she’d missed, but she found nothing. Puzzled, she decided to head to work and investigate later. She passed cafes, newsagents, smoke shops, falafel stands, but all were empty and still.

Arriving at the office, she found it empty too, her coworkers and the usual chaos conspicuously absent. She called her boss, but the line was dead. She tried her mother. Same response. Her heart was a deafening drum, and her mind was flooded with what-ifs.

Desperate, she made her way to the building’s rooftop, hoping to find answers. Looking out at the city, her spine tingled. Everything was motionless, stationary, as if the world had stopped.

She noticed a cluster of black dots in the distance. She zoomed in on her phone camera. They were birds, stalled in mid-air! And then it hit her. She was the only one moving, the only one not frozen in this uncanny tableau.

Panic consumed her, and she rushed back to her apartment. Someone had slipped a note under the door. Reading the note, she slumped to the floor. “You’re the anomaly,” read the message.

**Credits**
Text: Will Ellington
Video: Ron Lach
Music: "Isolation Waltz" by Bryan Teoh

**Keywords**
#shortstory 
#thriller 
#newyork 
#apartment 
#timefreeze 
#yumiko 
#nyc 
#panic 
#fear 
#silence