The Choice

I wish there was more than 24 hours in a day.

There are too many things I have to do, and unless I cease to eat and sleep, I will not be able to accomplish them all at once.

Remember that episode from the 80's show Tales From The Dark Side about the disgruntled housewife who finds a watch in her garden? She hates that she has no control over time, and how she never has time for herself because she's too busy taking care of her family. It turns out that the watch she dug up has the power to make time stop and go: all she has to do is say "Stop!" and time stops (everything freezes around her - people, things, milk that's about to be spilled, etc.); for it to Go again, all she has to do is say so.

There is, of course, a catch: several days later, after enjoying the watch's power, a meteor begins hurtling towards Earth. She can Stop the destruction of the world, but then she knows she will have to be alone for the rest of her life - everything around her will stay frozen, immovable, in limbo. On the other hand, if she doesn't use the watch, the world will end.

She chooses to stop time. The angry, fiery meteor hangs just above the supermarket where she does her daily shopping, and everyone, everything is still. She is alone, and will be so, forever. In a sense, the world as she knows it has ended too.

I would like that watch for myself, if only to give me more time to finish my projects. Hopefully, I won't have to make the same choice that the housewife did.

What would you choose?