Nobody could say precisely when it started. Scientists researched it nearly to death until someone pointed out that it really didn’t matter. The issue was set aside, and everyone focused on coping instead of asking why. But just as the elderly remembered where they had been the moment they learned about the Terrorist Attacks of 2001, so did everyone remember where they were and what they were doing the day the world changed for ever. Not that it did them any good.

Sherri sighed, tapping one elegantly manicured fingernail on the oak desk in bored annoyance. What in the world had prompted her to be a secretary of all things? She could be a designer, a salon owner, a personal shopper, but no, busy phone lines and sticky keyboards filled her waking hours instead of glamorous lifestyles.

A small commotion in the lobby caught her attention as Howard Jamesson hustled through the revolving doors, puffing and holding his hat in place as if it was crucial to the salvation of the earth. He staggered up to the front desk, and Sherri handed him his check-in sheet. It was routine.

“Late as always, Jamesson.” She drawled, glancing over at the wall clock with a glance so pointed it should have shattered the glass. And then she did a double take.

It was not, as she had assumed, nine-thirty, AM. The hands rested firmly at the nine and the three, fifteen minutes earlier than it should have been. Sherri narrowed her eyes at the offending timepiece, resolving to get it fixed immediately, then opened the clock on her computer in order to get the actual time. She nearly gaped as the time popped up on the screen in bold, black font that counted to the actual seconds. It was nine-fifteen a.m., and the seconds were moving backwards. Nine-fifteen-twenty-nine. Nine-fifteen-twenty-eight. Nine-fifteen-twenty-seven…

Sherri looked up at Jamesson, who was alternately checking his watch and staring at the monitor in horrified fascination. Their eyes met, and he nodded, trembling. His watch was doing the exact same thing. Sherri flicked on the desk radio, eliciting protests from the other occupants of the lobby who objected to the loud volume and obnoxious static as Sherri tuned in to the local news station. The protests died out, however, as soon as the announcer’s voice filled the room.

“-city, indeed throughout the country are reversed! Scientists are as of yet unsure what this phenomenon might signal, and we can only wait to see why the clocks have decided to tell time in reverse. Watch and clock makers are unable to make the timepieces work properly, and so we can only assume that this occurrence is not due to human error or hoax, but to the very nature of time itself. Sondra Miller reports:“