The Realms [Watty 2017 Shortlist]

The Time Keeper - Part 20

            I hesitate before leaving Ryan, but the Life Line Keeper said I'd get a signal for a meeting and the stoppage of time is probably a pretty strong indicator of the desire to meet. I walk slowly toward the house, leery of a trap but other than spontaneous electricity in the decaying house, it looks the same from the outside. As I step over the threshold, the house transforms itself into the beautiful building I remember from the Third Realm. Was Maizie also getting her meeting this quickly?

            "Hello?" I call out as I roam from room to room. 

          There doesn't appear to be anyone in the house and my heart is a car in danger of crashing. Is it possible to maintain a heart rate this elevated for this long? I spot a door off Ryan's room that I know doesn't belong. I take a deep breath and turn the handle, praying that the price to save Ryan, to save the realm, won't be more than I can pay.

             As I step through the door I am greeted by clocks. The room is stuffed with clocks that are all different colours and patterns. Time is moving at a different rate on each one. Although there are only four realms, there are hundreds of clocks everywhere and even the furniture appears to be telling some sort of time.

            "We don't have all day, you know. Stopping time is rarely the best idea. But desperate people call for desperate acts," a voice calls out.

             I jump at the voice but quickly recover. I still can't see anyone in the crush of clocks. "Which one of us is desperate, exactly?" I ask.

            The voice laughs an odd sound. I have trouble determining a gender. Suddenly, a shock of red hair emerges from one of the piles of clocks, a screwdriver in one hand and a magnifying glass in the other. I wonder whose clock was in need of repair. Sensing my unspoken question, the figure holds them both a little higher and says, "Tools of the trade. Also, I had to stop time, so I needed a little help to isolate the field."

             "You only stopped time in the field? How do we catch back up?" I ask.

             "I just move the clock ahead. I have a timer going on this conversation. When you go back, you'll suggest that it is getting late. Which, I can only assume will be the truth once this conversation is finished. We have much to discuss."

             I look around me for a place to sit, but I am uneasy with any of the options that are available.

             "Sit wherever. You couldn't hurt my clocks, even if you wanted to." The Time Keeper grins and I try to determine a gender, but without much success.

             The keeper laughs again, delighted and perches on a clock stool across from me. "I chose to be genderless when I took this position. No need to worry – this isn't a trick of some sort. I find it's easier to concentrate on my work without anything to interfere with it. To me, gender just isn't that important."

             I forgot about the mind reading and I immediately feel a little foolish for giving my thoughts away quite so easily. It will be a challenging conversation if I can't keep my inner-self guarded or hidden.

             "Don't even try. You aren't in the Third or Fourth Realm and trying to hide them will only impede the decisions you have to make tonight. I can pretend that I can't hear you if you like." The Time Keeper twirls the tools around and around while watching my expression.

             "Yeah, I guess that would help. I've gotten used to having my thoughts to myself over the last year." I hesitate for a moment before speaking again, but then ask, knowing the Time Keeper already knows anyway. "Does this mean you have an answer already? I was under the impression there was a lot to consider."