The Boy Who Borrowed Time
In a quiet town surrounded by misty hills, there lived a boy named Ethan Cole. People in the town knew him as the boy who was always late.
Late to school.
Late to meetings.
Late to everything.
But what they didn't know was that Ethan had a secret.
Ethan could borrow time.
It started when he was ten years old. One rainy afternoon, while walking home from school, Ethan found an old silver watch lying on the road. It looked ancient, scratched, and strangely warm in his hand.
When he pressed the tiny button on its side, something impossible happened.
Everything stopped.
The rain froze in the air.
Cars stopped moving.
People stood like statues.
Only Ethan could move.
At first, he thought it was a dream. But when he released the button, the world continued again like nothing had happened.
From that day on, Ethan discovered the watch had a strange power:
Every time he pressed it, he could stop time for exactly one minute.
But there was a rule.
Every minute he borrowed…
One minute was taken from his own future life.
At first, Ethan didn't care. One minute felt meaningless.
He used it to cheat on exams.
To avoid embarrassing moments.
To fix small mistakes in life.
But years passed.
And Ethan kept borrowing time.