Sebastian muttered an oath under his breath- he'd done it again. With a callous hand, he knocked the disarray of bronze cogs and gears off the grey slate table and scowled through the smudged thick lenses of his wire-rimmed glasses. Despite his father's reputation as the finest clockmaker in all of Triberg, try as he might, Seb could never quite live up to the family name. Whether it be a missing pair of pliers or a misshaped cog, something always went wrong. Running a hand through his damp, curly brown hair he rubbed the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, as if to block out the mess splayed before him.
Rising from the sturdy oak stool beneath him, Sebastian wandered dazedly towards his father's mahogany clock and lifted it gently from the mantlepiece. It was a truly grand piece of work; Roman numerals denoted. it's hours and at the centre, from where gold-enamelled hands protruded was a mesmerising onyx gemstone. Something about the gemstone unnerved Seb greatly. Though the clock was not one of the traditional cuckoo clocks common to Triberg, painted on the surface of the clock was an ornamental phoenix trapped in a golden cage. The bird had deep black eyes and it's stunning fiery plumage had a metallic sheen to it. The bird blinked.
Sebastian let out a stunned gasp and stared mutely as the phoenix reached out of it's cage and struck him hard with it's beak. With a hiss of pain, Seb dropped the clock instinctively and an expression of utmost horror filled his face as he fumbled desperately to catch the clock. There was a sickening crack as the clock hit the floor, chipping the lacquer of the golden cage and splitting the onyx gemstone in two.
The phoenix let out a piercing screech as it darted from it's former confines and lunged into the broken onyx stone. Sebastian's lips parted in shock at the scene displayed before him; the obsidian colour of the onyx was slowly leaching away. Reaching out a wavering hand, Seb slowly touched the now grey stone. And then he was gone.
And there's Chapter 1! Fairly brief, but I will be sure to update soon, hopefully. Comment and vote if you liked it!
Thanks,
-Word_Bird
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Inner Workings
Short StorySebastian Holt is the son of a clockmaker in Triberg, and has a "magic" ability to mess everything thing up. That guy who sprained his wrist falling down the bleachers at school last week? Yep, that's Seb... But what happens when he messes things up...
