The Clock

In an instant James noticed that something had changed in the environment around him, but he still couldn't tell what. Almost everything seemed normal, but something was slightly off, something was missing. What was it? He looked around, tapping his nose with the tip of his pencil. The furniture was definitely the same; a boring old table with a bunch of lame ass chairs all around it. The homework that lay on the table hadn't changed either. It still demanded him to find out whatever the hell x + 5 = 98 was. What was different, though?

The pencil slipped out of his hand and clattered on the floor, loudly, much more loudly than it should have. Euphoria struck James's face. The clock. The old grandfather clock in the corner of the room, it wasn't ticking anymore. It must have broken or something. He looked up at the thing.

The pendulum was suspended in mid-air.

"What?"

He got up and opened the grandfather clock to take a closer look. The pendulum was indeed, frozen in mid-air, something that was impossible, but it couldn't possibly be impossible because here it was, right in front of him.