The Morning the Earth Stopped Turning

The Morning the Earth Stopped Turning

One morning the earth stopped turning. It remained morning. Elsewhere it was dusk, elsewhere noon. Whatever it was wherever you were, it was then always. Clocks and watches went on like a radio chattering after a car wreck. At first people were shocked, but gradually they accepted the fact that the rotation of the earth had stalled. A great migration began for those who could afford to move. Some of those who lived where it was always night moved to where it was always day, while those who found the day to be too bright moved to where it was always night. The wealthiest bought properties at dawn, noon, dusk and midnight. Those who lived where it was always day were very industrious. Those who lived where it was always night were slower, more solemn. You can imagine the grief of farmers whose land fell dark. Their crops failed. There was no forage for their livestock. Through the wasted fields astronomers walked, and, reluctantly, the farmers joined them, became amateur astronomers themselves. In that land too lived those who’ve always loved the dark - poets, mystics, healers. All those who don’t need light to see.