Tevun-Krus #43 - ClockPunk

Sleeping Beauty - A Short Story by @jinnis

Tick tock, goes the clock

Tick tock, keeping time

Tick tock, all is fine

As long as clock goes tick-a-tock

The wheels click softly against each other, their sound a soothing background beat to the never-ending song whispering through the domed cavern.

Tickatock relaxes. He enjoys the time after work, aware the job is well done. The heavy counterweights are wound up to the cavern's roof and the giant pendulum swings majestically back and forth. It gives the clockwork momentum for another long night and eventually a new dawning day of timekeeping.

He sits in his favourite rocking chair, swaying to the ticking of the clock and the sweet song of time.

Tickatock is clockmaster and timekeeper, and he takes his job seriously. Each day, he inspects the intricate mechanical masterpiece, oils the axels, adjusts verge escapement and balance wheels. With a sharp eye he detects and removes the slightest speck of dust or rust he finds on the tiniest cogwheel. To keep the clock running is his pride and purpose.

Now, all his daily duties are fulfilled. He picks up a book and starts to read, submerging in a world of fantasy until a sharp knock on the door interrupts his peace of mind.

Tickatock isn't used to visitors. The way to his cavern is hard to find, and he likes it this way. But ignoring the knock doesn't work. Whoever stands at his door is persistent.

Tickatock tries hard to fix his mind onto the words on the pages. Only the knocker doesn't go away. Grumbling, the timekeeper closes his book and shuffles to the cavern's entrance, still hoping the intruder will decide to leave. The knocking gets louder, more desperate.

Hesitantly, Tickatock opens the door. Outside stands a woman. He has never met someone as beautifully pale and delicately fragile. She shivers in a cold gust coiling into the cavern's entrance. Quickly, the timekeeper ushers his black clad visitor in.

Later, Tickatock and the foreign lady sit together by the fireside with cups of hot chocolate. The woman is silent, her dark rimmed, frightened eyes checking every corner of the cavern. Tickatock is sure she carries a secret, flees some unknown danger. But he doesn't dare to ask, afraid he will scare her away with questions.

Afterwards, Tickatock watches over his exhausted guest's sleep. He marvels at the lady's ethereal beauty, her fine features framed by silvery hair falling over the armrest of the sofa she curled up on. He doesn't know where she came from and why she searched shelter in his cavern of all places. But he is glad she did.

Slowly, imperceptibly, and without him realising it, Tickatock falls in love. He falls in love with the unearthly beauty of the stranger and the lingering feeling of secrets and mysteries.

The clockmaster passes the night at his guest's bedside and doesn't leave while she sleeps long into the next day. He half-hopes the lady will awake but on the other hand, he is content just watching over her sleep.

For the first time, Tickatock forgets to rewind the counterweights. And while he enjoys the precious presence of his sleeping love, the clock's wheels turn slower and slower until the pendulum comes to rest and the mechanism falls silent.

Tickatock looks up the moment the gearwheels click to a stop. All remorse comes too late.

The song of time falters and the universe collapses into empty silence.