World leaders tried to stop you.
Friends begged you.
The CIA drugged your coffee.
The baristas gave you decaf.
The Press is showing you pictures of confused families across the globe, pulling at your heartstrings.
There’s a worldwide phenomenon, people arguing about your free will, responsibility, family loyalty. The needs of the many…
But all you had to do was look into your little brother’s eyes knowing he’d be punished for his bad report card tomorrow, and if there was one person you’d doom the world for, it’s gotta be him.
Your mother sits with you that afternoon on the third ‘night’ of your sleep strike negotiation and says, with utter serenity, that whatever it is your brother is trying to get out of: stopping time won’t stop her.
“I can punish you both right now,” she says, sipping chamomile tea, “and then when tomorrow never comes, you’ll both be punished forever.”
On second thought, you’re kind of getting a little tired. Your brother’s on his own.