I Have This Fear

Will Musgrove

This is a dumb thing to be afraid of, but I’ll be at work or going to bed, just living my life, and will randomly think, What if the Earth suddenly stopped spinning right now? The thought popping into my head like some forgotten errand. Would everyone be flung off the planet? Whenever I have this fear, I freeze and grip whatever’s closest and looks sturdiest, as if having the fear means it’s more likely to come true. If the Earth suddenly stops spinning like the inciting incident of some crappy disaster movie, honestly, I hope I’m outside, standing in a big, open field. In a field, there’d be nothing to hold onto, nothing to tether me in place as momentum sends me rocketing at thousands of miles an hour. There’d only be me speeding toward the sky and looking down at everything one last time, at all that beauty, and thinking, Boy, that was great while it lasted, before being deposited into endless space like some kid putting their toys away.