She knew it was a powerful moment, she later reflected, because everything in the universe- from the sky to the ticking second hand on the old kitchen clock- spoke to her all at once, and all the same thing:

It is time. Time for a change.

So she sat with the moment. The second hand ticked, but time remained still. Only the sound of her breath and the clock.

A beam of light cast across the floor, cracking through the open doorway to an adjacent room: now.

On the refrigerator door, dulled and distorted metallic reflections of her rainbow fruit basket: right now.

Her breath drew in the world and with her next exhale she would begin again.

Objects on the countertop levitated.
The hair stood up on the back of her neck.
She closed her eyes and breathed in.

Tick
tock
tick
tock.