Chrono Stasis

Genesis

    My footsteps resound harshly against the gravel driveway leading up to my late grandfather’s passing. That man, while eccentric and goofy at times, was the greatest mind I ever had the pleasure of knowing. The large house looming overhead is a testament to his business success. Alexander Cross could talk his way out of, and into any situation with the charisma expected of a Politician. The wing-tip shoes lining my feet clack against the stone steps leading up to my grandfather’s double doors. My family has been coming here every day for the past week, gathering and organizing my grandfather’s personal belongings. While his house had become extremely spartan since Grandmother passed away, he still has his own way of hiding valuable and notable items in plain sight. Most have gone home, though I’ve volunteered to begin combing the attic overnight. I push open the double doors and gaze into the desolate foyer, and prepare for my task.
    Dangling haphazardly from the ceiling in a side hallway is a dirty rope, which pulls down the stairs leading into the attic. I climb the rickety set of stairs which gives way to a vast dark space filled with boxes and layers of dust lying across the room like a layer of soot from an erupted volcano. I click the flashlight in my hand on as I begin to take note of the boxes around me and their contents. Most of these boxes have been labeled, something unsurprising from a man as meticulous and careful as my grandfather. Alexander seemed to have every move and every word he spoke planned weeks in advance, any mistake or calamity being easily overcome with the smallest of effort. None of the boxes stand out as anything special, and the large open area leaves plenty of room for movement. My wingtips clack against the wooden floor as I venture further into the attic, mind wandering with my feet into memories of my dear Grandfather. I am the youngest of five siblings, all of whom are girls. My grandfather dearly desired a grandson who he could talk to boy to boy, or man to man. His hopes for a son were dashed with the passing of my grandmother shortly after my mother’s birth. Alexander Cross took care of me as if I were his only child, constantly badgering my mother to allow me to stay with him for a night or two. I would never mind of course, he would tell me amazing stories of his life and his struggle to reach where he is today, the immense challenge building a business is, and the ellation he felt when he finally began reaching the success he had dreamed of. His continued rise to power and his ability to handle any situation with a well-placed word. His stories are the reason I went into business myself. My Father took over my grandfather’s business with my Mother, as is their right in my grandfather’s will. We all have our own wills and our inheritance from my grandfather, mine was unfortunately sparse. A lesser sum of money from everyone else, a million will be very appreciated, but it’s a fraction of what my eldest sibling inherited. Mine was my million in cash and a clearly labeled lock-box in this very attic. I told my family I wished to begin the attic work, though I have little doubt they know I’m really up here for that box. 
    Two hours pass attempting to find the clearly marked box, grandfather’s will stated it would be up here with my name on it. Such direction proves useless amongst the seemingly endless sea of darkness, cardboard, and dust. My feet are aching something horrid at this point, and I begin questioning my decision to suddenly search for this box without changing into more appropriate gear. I pass the beam from my flashlight back and forth through the endless congregation of dull brown, until the beam reflects off of a small piece of metal barely sticking out from underneath a blanket. I rip the blanket off to find the box I had been searching for, the name Oliver Cross displayed proudly on the top. I gleefully open my prize to reveal a beautiful pocket-watch laid over a silk cushion to keep it from taking damage. While the timepiece is beautiful, I have no doubt most of its value is sentimental for my grandfather. I had been hoping for a deed of some kind, perhaps notes from prominent stock ownership to get me started on my own business, something grandfather knew I dreamed of doing. Instead, the only thing my grandfather left for his grandson wishing to follow in his footsteps is a small fraction of his inheritance and a lousy pocket watch. “This is what you give the son you always wanted, huh gramps?” I mutter to myself, turning the watch over and over in my palm. Guilt overtakes me as I realise how ungrateful I am being, this watch clearly meant a lot to gramps as he had it since he started his company. My flashlight flickers and dies leaving me drowning in a sea of intense darkness the likes of which I’d never felt before. That was, until a blue glow overcame my vision, forcing me to gaze at the suddenly incandescent blue light emanating from the watch. The clock must have been broken, as both hands seem to be pointing at the winding mechanism. Pulling out my phone I see it reads midnight on the nose, I attempt to twist the watch’s dial, though it doesn’t budge. Neither direction seems to function for turning, though the studded wheel does have some give to it, realizing this I attempt to push the wheel inward. Suddenly my world is overcome with a great flash of blue which blinds me for what feels like an eternity. Once my eyes adjust I realize I am within the same suffocating darkness as before, the hands on the watch now moving, starting from midnight on the dot. Confused and yet satisfied by my attempts to correct the time, I make my way toward the staircase I had come up. The living room couch is warm and inviting to my sore feet, as I attempt to relax and gather my bearings over my new inheritance. I attempt to stifle a loud yawn as I lay on the couch with watch in hand, my eyelids slowly close, my hand closely guarding my inheritance.
    I slowly open my crusted eyes as I attempt to gain my bearings and figure out exactly where I’ve woken up. Last night returns to my memory in a haze, similar to any night I sat a little too comfortable with a bottle in hand. The watch in my hand now reads 5:27, I suppose I can call that a decent night’s rest. I rise from the couch to be greeted by a confusing sight, the pitch black of night has yet to be lifted. Checking the watch again I realise that the sun should be rising in the July Skyline by now, and yet nothing greets my eyes but inky blackness. “Stupid watch must be fast” I mutter to myself as I pull out my phone to check the actual time. Yet no matter how long I held the power button, or how many times I hit the home button, my phone’s screen never lights up. Confused and unsettled I try to turn on the television across from me to see if the television still works, it seems the television refuses to turn on as well. I would normally cry “power outage” but that doesn’t explain my phone’s lack of response, even dead it would have flashed on briefly before powering off. I pull the curtains aside, expecting to find my family coming up for an early morning runthrough of inventory, I am instead met with no sign of life, no movement of any kind graces my vision. I step outside into the darkness to try and see what is happening, only to be met with an even more confusing and troubling sensation. The wind had been howling ever since before I walked into the attic, and yet there was no breeze, no sound of birds chirping or grass rustling, nothing was paired with this inky blackness but silence more suited for a grave than my grandparent’s house. Looking around his large yard I can’t help but notice a dear statue I hadn’t noticed before, standing erect and confident rather close to the front porch off to the side. I approach the deer statue to get a better look and realise with a great deal of shock, that this stock-still deer is in fact alive, simply not moving. I attempt to shout at it, wave my hand in it’s eyes, and yet nothing registers. I pull out my grandfather’s watch to check the time, 6:10, and I can’t help but wonder why this primitive piece of technology is the only thing working. I turn it over in my hand and accidentally press the same wheel as before, and like before a blue flash encompassed my vision, my vision returning faster this time, fast enough to see the deer flee in a frenzied panic. Even more confused at it’s sudden behavior, and the effect of the watch on it, I turn back to the house when I am met with a strong gust of wind that had been missing just before.
    A dull pain rose in my head as questions came far to quickly to begin addressing any of them. The blue flashes seemed related to whatever is going on, and now the watch’s face is glowing a deep scarlet. I attempt to recreate what had occured the first time, I carefully pressed the dial inwards trying to elicit the same response from the timepiece. To my complete disappointment, nothing occured when I pressed and manipulated the button. I scratched my head and laid the watch in my front right pocket, as I trudged into the house to attempt to reclaim my sleep for a little longer. I decided to pass through the kitchen in order to grab myself a beverage, and the neon green glow coming from the oven in this darkened kitchen caught my eyes. The microwave prominently displayed a glowing 1:13 across the surface of the cooking apparatus. The last time I had checked the time prior to finding the watch was 12:57. In the time it had taken me to walk downstairs, take a nap, and interact with the local fauna on an intimate level, 16 minutes had passed. Either I am dreaming extremely vividly, or something very strange involving this watch is happening. Clicking the dial in still has no effect, as I realize that the watch is no longer responding to me at this point. Not sure what else to do in this situation, I attempt to fall asleep, letting my mind work through this information and come at my situation with fresh eyes in the morning.
    I awaken to the feeling of someone violently shaking my shoulder, my eyes fly open to see my older sister Amanda cross staring down at me with barely hidden amusement. “Good morning sunshine!” Her chipper attitude putting a bad taste in my mouth to rival my morning breath. Whether she noticed my glare or not I’m not sure, but her cheshire grin gives me an idea. Daisy’s face pops in from the corner of my vision, and she clears her throat before announcing; “Are you finally awake baby brother? While I’m glad you got your inheritance, we still have a lot to get done here before I can return to work tomorrow.” I roll of the couch with all the grace of an elephant, and slowly gain my balance and bearings. I trudge past my two fully awake sisters in my wrinkled suit, my wingtips having been kicked off sometime while I slept. Upon entering the kitchen, my eyes were meant with the amused grin of my mother Lisa and a hot cup of coffee waiting for me on the counter. As I take my first sip of coffee, my mother clears her throat to gain my attention, an annoying trait she passed on to Daisy. “I thought you would have at least tried to work on the attic when you offered, but you went right for your inheritance and passed out on the couch. If we want to be done for tomorrow we’ll need to put in some serious work.” I narrow my eyes at my mother, her eyes meeting mine with equal intensity, her grin challenging me to tell her “no”. I let out a deep groan in acceptance and try to wake myself up, mother’s heels sounding harshly against the tiled floor of my grandfather’s kitchen. My hand slips into my right pocket, grazing the pocketwatch it contained, I grasped the bauble and raise it to my eyes. The same dull blue glow of before greets my eyes, the red having passed. I carefully eyed the watch in front of my face, the time reading 12 on the dot. I begin pressing the wheel of the watch inward, with a harsh click the watch’s face flashed before my eyes. My vision briefly left me, upon its return I realized that the world had taken on a blue glow, a dull tint to match the now ticking watch face in front of me. I get out of my seat to find my family, eager to show them the oddity. Walking back into the living room my eyes meet the still forms of Daisy, Amanda, and Mother on the couch seeming to have been talking. Though their conversation is not what caught my eyes, the still frames of their bodies and complete silence of the previously noisy world drew my full attention. The television displayed our local news channel with the anchors frozen mid speech, their facial expression would be comical if it weren’t for the fear gripping my heart. I rush back into the kitchen and grab the watch I had left with my half finished cup of coffee, I click the button on the watch and my vision is filled with blue. Once my vision  returns so to does the sounds of laughter in the kitchen, and my father cursing my grandfather somewhere above my head for making him do all this physical work. The deep scarlet of my grandfather’s watch greets my vision, the watch no longer responding to my clicking once more. I casually sip from my mug and eyeball the watch, waiting for the red to give way to blue. After fifteen minutes of waiting, the red gives way to violet, then slowly brightens as blue overtakes my vision. The watch’s face reads 12:05, which only counts up when time itself is held to stop. “So the watch recharges for double the time it is activated...this thing keeps getting weirder and weirder.” I’m quickly pulled from my thoughts by the sound of my father’s shoes clacking against the tile. He slides a note in front of me, and motions for me to read it. “From your Grandpa, he wanted you to read it when you got that pocketwatch he always had, a letter I assume.” I unfold the letter, and begin reading from my grandfather’s practiced and neat script.