Alicia,
First off, thank you for your excellent and well worded question.
More than likely you had a drive belt break or come off the pulley. Remove any grass or debris from the top of the mowing deck and inspect the belt. If it looks loose or worn, replace it.
Click on these [http://www.troybilt.com/wcpics/TroyBiltUS/en_US/wwcm/769-03842.pdf|BLUE WORDS] to link to a troy bilt mower manual. Page 20 explains some common issues associated with possible drive problems on the mower.
Here is a screen shot of that page.
[image|55991|size=thumbnail]
I hope this helps and please let us know. But if you have more questions about it come back and we will get into more detail.
Regards,
Frank