The Exceptional Clockwork Journey of The Perpetually Alone Hugo Gerard (NaNoWriMo 2012)

Chapter 4

I apologize for the awkward spacing, I'm too lazy to fix it :)

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Chapter 4

After thoroughly explaining how Clockworks work, Hugo drove the conversation back to the subject at hand, Oblivion.

“Why is he a problem? Isn’t Oblivion important in the way of life?” Hugo asked, tilting his head to the side.

“It is, unless of course, it is used on the eternally depressed. As I told you before, this turns them mad,” Time reminded Hugo.

“I remember, but why is that a problem?”

“Madness is important in our everyday lives, as I’m sure you’ve acknowledged. If we didn’t all have a touch of madness we would become lifeless and meaningless, but too much can completely crush a person. As you already know, my race, the Clockwork, is completely dedicated to time, but there is another race that has been named the Lanrete. Lanrete are able to defy time, thus interrupting the flow and order. These Lanrete are factors of Oblivion to destroy me.”

Hugo looked perplexed, “Destroy you? How?”

“Hugo, I am a being of Time and Time itself. I keep order in our world, how do you think I would be destroyed?”

“If you didn’t keep time?” Hugo guessed, clenching his teeth in anticipation.

“Exactly. The one thing that is keeping time in this world is I, Time. I cannot be destroyed unless the flow of time is seriously damaged. My heart, Hugo. My heart is what keeps time. Each beat is a second, every sixty a minute. My heart, Hugo! To be destroyed my heart must literally skip a beat. One second, one second is all it takes before I sink into never ending Oblivion! I am so strong, Hugo, yet so weak,” Time tugged at his beard in anger.

“What about me, how can I be destroyed?”

Time turned to his son, replying, “You, my son, are the rightful Heir to the throne of Time. You, you are what I have been waiting for for millennia! You are the key, Hugo. I have ruled for so many years I, Time myself, have lost count! You must take the throne. You, my son, are so much stronger than I. Able to love, Hugo! Love! I could never feel anything for your mother, no matter how much she felt for me! But you, you can love! You have a heart, not a mechanical machine that is programmed to beat every living second. When you run, your heartbeats quicker, does it not? I cannot ever run! Ever, ever, ever! But you, Hugo, you can love.”

And with a flourish, Time disappeared into tiny little flakes of golden and whisked out the newly open window, gone in seconds.

Hugo sat on his bed and picked up his book, beginning to read once again.

-

That night, for the first in years, Hugo dreamed.

“Come on Hugo! Hurry up!” Abel yelled ahead of him, turning around and dashing away from his mother’s cottage.

“I’m coming!” Hugo replied, kicking off his shoes and sprinting after his older brother, laughing as the wind whipped across his face, sending his honey brown hair flying.

“You boys be home by eight o’clock, I’m making Coq Au Vin tonight!” Adéle called to her two sons, smiling as they ran into the forest to play, barefoot.

“Yes, mama!” they both called over their shoulders, disappearing into the forest, the sounds of laughs and giggles echoing behind them.

Adéle smiled weakly and walked back into her cottage to prepare the Coq Au Vin.

Hugo woke early the next morning, panting and sweating with the memory, and began getting dressed for work.

-

“Hugo, you need a small gear for that watch. What is wrong? You seem… Distracted today,” Jacques corrected, worrying about the boy.

All day his fingers had been shaking and his eyes were always red, Hugo constantly wiping them dry and returning to his work. Something had happened at home.

“Nothing,” Hugo sniffled, wiping his hand across his tearing eyes.

“You should take the rest of the day off, Hugo. Go, I will close up,” Jacques offered and Hugo nodded, not saying a word as he took his coat from the hook and walked out.

-

Hugo wasn’t going home. No, he needed to make peace; the memory had haunted him far to long to wait any longer. His footsteps thumped against the cold cobblestone, right, left, right, left. No one was out at this time of afternoon, all the children were finishing school and most of the adults either at home or their jobs, so Hugo was left with just his thoughts.

Your entire fault, your fault, Hugo. It’s all your fault he’s gone, you just sat and watched.

Hugo didn’t even try to fight the thoughts, they were true.

He, Hugo Gerard, had killed his own brother.