Just a Minute

Chapter 1

There comes a time, in most of our lives, when we wish time would stand still. Maybe it's a moment of happiness we want to savour or maybe it's the time before an impending moment of doom we need to stave. For James it was neither. Time was his playground, pleasure and death held no more interest to him than the satisfaction he obtained from a tasty burger.
From an early age he began to realise he was different. He also knew, from watching others, that people who were different were persecuted. With that in mind he endeavoured to appear as normal as the next person.
His first realisation came, when he was 10 years old, at the hands of Munro the class bully. In sheer terror he shut his eyes as the bigger boys fist careered towards his nose.  After a second or two he realised that he wasn't in pain. Another second or two allowed him the courage to take a peek. He immediately scrunched his eyes shut again seeing Munro's fat fist just inches from his nose.
It was around about this time that James noticed the deafening silence. He felt no pain from the incoming punch and all he could here was the rhythmic beat of a drum.  This of course, though he did not realise, was the beating of his own terrified heart.
More seconds passed before he gained the courage to look again.  There it was, the meteor of a fist stopped in its tracks only inches from his very own face. It filled his view being so close but his peripheral view allowed him to see the twisted face of rage of the sender. James gasped, taking a much needed breath, as well as closing his eyes he'd been holding his breath. He instinctively went to take a step backward, he found that his body was not responding as it should. It felt as though he was being held in place by a weight greater than his own. It took all his will and might just to move his head down far enough to look at his feet, which were not moving as requested. His minute was up. Munro almost yelped in pain as his fist hit the top of James's skull. It's fair to say that Munro came off the worst and ran off with his proverbial tail between his legs.