
A desperate, drunken night drives Dave Miller to the brink of suicide, only for the world to freeze at the exact moment his trigger is pulled. Instead of darkness, he awakens behind the counter of his own drugstore, surrounded by ordinary customers and the relentless tinkle of a cash register. The surreal shift forces him to confront the wreckage of his marriage, his self‑destructive habits, and the bitter truth that his choices have left him adrift.
As Dave struggles to piece together how he landed back in his shop, the narrative balances gritty realism with a disorienting, almost dream‑like atmosphere. Each interaction with the strangers at his counter becomes a mirror for his own failures, urging him to decide whether he will remain trapped in this static moment or find a way to move forward. The story invites listeners into a tense, introspective journey that questions how far one can go before time itself seems to stop.
Language
en
Duration
~33 minutes (32K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2008-10-26
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1900–1979
A prolific pulp-era storyteller, this American writer moved easily between science fiction adventures, western tales, and screenwriting for B-movies. His career captures the fast, colorful energy of early 20th-century popular fiction.
View all books