The Halt

Ethan Carter wasn't special.

At least, that's what he thought.

He was sixteen, lived in a small house on a street where every house looked almost identical, and spent most mornings trying to convince himself that he had enough time to get ready for school.

He usually didn't.

"Ethan!"

He heard the shout from downstairs.

He stared at the clock.

7:43.

School started at eight-thirty.

"Yeah?"

"You're going to be late!"

"I know!"

"You said that yesterday!"

Ethan pulled a black hoodie over his head and looked at himself in the mirror.

His brown hair was sticking up in three different directions.

He tried flattening it.

It sprang back.

"Brilliant."

He grabbed his bag from the floor and ran downstairs.

His dad was already at the kitchen table, halfway through a cup of coffee. He was still wearing his police uniform, though his jacket was hanging over the back of the chair.

Detective? No.

Inspector? Definitely not.

Just a normal police officer who spent most of his days dealing with the kind of problems nobody wanted to deal with.

Ethan's dad looked up from his phone.

"You look terrible."

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

Ethan grabbed a piece of toast.

His dad smiled.

"You've got your history test today."

Ethan stopped.

"What?"

"History test."

"When did that happen?"

"About two weeks ago."

Ethan stared at him.

"You've got to be joking."

"I've been reminding you for days."

"No, you haven't."

"I have."

"You've definitely not."

His dad took another sip of coffee.

"I definitely have."

Ethan shoved the toast into his mouth.

"You're not helping."

"I'm your father. Helping isn't always my job."

Ethan rolled his eyes.

His dad laughed.

For a moment, everything was normal.

Just breakfast.

Just another morning.

Just another day.

Ethan grabbed his bag and headed for the door.

"See you tonight, Dad."

His father looked up.

"Be careful."

Ethan paused.

He'd heard those words a thousand times.

His dad said them whenever he left for school.

Whenever Ethan went out with friends.

Whenever he went anywhere, really.

"Yeah. You too."

His dad nodded.

Then Ethan was gone.

The walk to school wasn't particularly interesting.

That was probably what Ethan liked about it.

Nothing ever happened.

He passed the same corner shop, the same bus stop, the same cracked pavement. He saw the same old man walking his dog and the same group of kids waiting outside the school gates.

It was boring.

But boring was safe.

Ethan wasn't the kind of person people noticed.

He wasn't the loudest person in his year.

He wasn't the smartest.

He wasn't particularly good at sports.

He wasn't popular enough to have people constantly asking where he was going at the weekend.

He had friends.

A few, anyway.

That was enough.

"Ethan!"

He turned.

His friend, Jamie, was jogging towards him.

"You forgot your history book."

Ethan looked down at the book Jamie was holding.

"Oh."

"You left it in my bag yesterday."

"Right."

"You are unbelievably disorganized."

"I prefer the term spontaneous."

"You're a mess."

Ethan took the book.

"Thanks."

Jamie grinned.

"No problem."

They continued walking.

The school gates were only a few minutes away.

Everything was exactly as it was supposed to be.

Until Ethan noticed the police car.

It was parked across the road from the school.

His dad wasn't in it.

Ethan knew that immediately.

Still, he slowed down.

Two officers were standing beside it, talking to someone.

Jamie glanced over.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Ethan kept walking.

He didn't know why he'd stopped.

Maybe because his dad had always made police work seem bigger than it really was.

Not like the films.

There were no dramatic car chases every night.

Most of his dad's stories were about paperwork, arguments, stolen cars, shoplifting, and people making stupid decisions.

But Ethan knew there were other parts.

The parts his dad didn't talk about.

The parts that made him come home tired.

The parts that made Ethan's mum worry.

His dad had once told him something he'd never forgotten.

"Being a police officer isn't about being fearless."

Ethan had been younger then.

He'd asked what it was about.

His dad had thought for a moment.

"It's about doing something even when you're scared."

Ethan hadn't understood it at the time.

He thought he did now.

Or at least, he thought he did.

School passed slowly.

Maths.

English.

History.

Lunch.

More lessons.

Nothing remarkable.

By the final bell, Ethan was already thinking about getting home.

He walked out with Jamie, talking about absolutely nothing.

Then they split at the corner.

"See you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

Ethan turned onto his street.

The afternoon sky was grey, and the wind had picked up.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked.

A car drove past.

A dog barked somewhere behind a fence.

A window slammed shut.

Normal sounds.

Normal life.

Ethan reached his house and noticed his dad's car wasn't outside.

He unlocked the door.

"Hello?"

No answer.

He dropped his bag onto the floor.

"Dad?"

Still nothing.

He walked into the kitchen.

There was a note on the counter.

Working late. Don't wait up. Love, Dad.

Ethan sighed.

He wasn't surprised.

He opened the fridge.

Nothing looked particularly appealing.

He grabbed a bottle of water and sat down at the kitchen table.

For a few minutes, he just sat there.

The house was quiet.

Too quiet.

He looked at the note again.

His dad worked late a lot.

Ethan knew that.

He also knew his dad cared about what he did.

Sometimes, Ethan wondered if his dad actually liked being a police officer.

He'd never asked.

Maybe he should.

He got up and headed upstairs.

His room was a mess.

Clothes on the floor.

School books stacked badly on the desk.

A pair of trainers underneath the bed.

He sat down and started on his homework.

Ten minutes later, he was staring at the same question.

He sighed.

Then his phone buzzed.

A message from Jamie.

you coming out saturday?

Ethan smiled.

He typed back.

probably

Another message appeared.

that's not an answer

Ethan thought about it.

yes

He put his phone down.

For a while, everything was quiet again.

Outside his bedroom window, the world carried on.

Cars moved down the road.

People walked home.

Lights switched on in houses.

The sun slowly disappeared behind the clouds.

Ethan didn't know it yet, but this was the last completely ordinary evening of his life.

He didn't know that tomorrow would change everything.

He didn't know that something impossible was about to happen to him.

He didn't know that one day, people would look at him and see a hero.

Right now, he was just Ethan Carter.

Sixteen years old.

Ordinary.

And completely unaware that time itself was about to stop.