The Giant and the Watch

It started a long time ago with a Giant and a watch. The people of Leaderville never knew life without the Giant and his gigantic watch. He lived in the clouds and wore it every day. He told the time to the citizens of the small village. He told them when it was time to get up in the morning, and when to go to school. He told them when it was time for lunch. He told them when it was time for dinner. He told them when it was time for bed. He watched the time so perfectly that he never missed a tick but that all changed when the watch slipped and fell from the sky and onto the concrete.

The giant got sad and was never heard of again. He lives in the clouds moping and dispirited. The town became blue and the clouds became droopy. It rained every day and everyone was dreary. No one knew the time. The people of Leaderville didn't know when to get up in the morning. They didn't know when school or work was, they were all late. And they certainly didn't know when it was time for lunch, dinner or bedtime. Everyone was miserable, there was no sunshine to look forward too. The watch laid broken in the middle of the village, everyone passed it with a frown.

Five years later, a boy named Billy, from Leaderville turned fifteen. He didn't understand why no one tried to fix the broken watch. He was tired of living in a dreary, always raining village and he wanted to change things. He wanted it like it used to be when he was little and when the sun shined and he knew what time of day it was. He liked when his parents asked him about his day and what he did at school but since the Giant doesn't tell the time his parents are miserable and exhausted. He wanted the sun to shine and he wanted to play outside.

Billy had a plan. When the village turned quiet and his parents finally figure out it's time to go to bed he's going to sneak outside to the middle of the town in what they call the square. He's going to take his father's toolbox and try to fix the watch, or at least see if it's fixable. Later in the day, his parents came into his room.

"Goodnight, son." His parents said melancholy.

"Goodnight mom and dad." He said without enthusiasm so it wouldn't look suspicious.

His parents sulked to their room and shut their door and turned out their lights. Billy waited five more minutes and then put on his shoes and jacket. He quickly grabbed the toolbox that he hid behind the couch and he walked out of his house. Since the Giant's accident, it's never stopped raining, there's a rumor that the rain is actually the Giant's tears. It was a slow drizzle now and there was a chill in the air but that wasn't going to stop Billy.

Billy stopped at the Villages square and he looked up at the massive watch. It was black with gold numbers and gold hands, parts of the inside of the watch were sticking out. It just laid on the ground, dead flowers and grass were entwined between the gears.

Billy spent hours or what felt like hours tinkering with the watch with some of his tools. He tried so hard but nothing was working. He was becoming frustrated, all he wanted to do was fix the clock. He kicked the toolbox and sat on the cold hard ground and brought his knees up to his chest and hung his head. He felt useless.

"....ahahhaa." Billy heard something in a distance. It sounded like someone crying.

"Who's there?" Billy asked into the dark.

"AHHHHAAA." The crying got louder and it started to pour.

Billy looked up at the sky. There was a dark luminous shape up in the clouds. "Hello?" Billy yelled up at the clouds. "Who's there?"

The crying suddenly stopped and the dark shape moved and then all of a sudden there was a face in front of him. "Whoa!" Billy yelled and jumped.

The creature jumped back too and the ground shook. The mysterious creature was humongous and it had brown fur or black, Billy wasn't quite sure because of it being pitch blackout. It had two big eyes and it had to be about 8 feet tall.

"Who are you?" Billy spoke up to the creature.

The creature blinked and wiped its eyes with its large hand. "Who...are you?" The creature asked slowly.

"I'm Billy," I said hesitantly.

"Hi...Billy." The creature paused and pointed to himself. "I'm Giant."

Billy looked at the Giant in surprise. "You're the Giant that lives in the clouds? The timekeeper?" The Giant's eyes blinked with tears and his hairy chin wobbled. It started raining again.

Oh, no. "Please, don't cry, Giant," Billy said to him. "It's okay, I didn't mean to bring that up."

The Giant wiped his tears away and the rain stopped. The rumors were true, when the Giant cries, it rains.

"Giant, are you crying because of the watch?" Billy asked.

Giant nodded his head.

"Can you tell me what happened to the watch?" Billy questioned the Giant.

The Giant nodded his head and took a seat on the dead grass. Billy followed him and sat right next to him. "Five years ago, I was just about to wake everyone up in the morning but the strap on the watch broke and slipped. It fell into the village right there and broke right in half." The Giant sulked. "I caught part of the gear in my hand before it fell through the clouds but I couldn't save the rest of it. I was so ashamed, everyone counted on me to tell the time but I was so sad and I couldn't show myself."

"Aw, Giant. It's okay." Billy touched the Giant's shoulder. "Everyone makes mistakes, but Giant let me tell you something my dad, use to tell me before this happened. Everyone makes mistakes but you have to get back up and fix them."

The Giant perked up and looked up at Billy. "So what you're saying is if I fix the mistakes I made then everything will go back the way it was?"

"Well," Billy said. "It won't go back to exactly how it was but you can explain to everyone in the village about what you just said to me and they'll understand."

"Okay," The Giant said. His lips quirked up into a smile. "Let's do it!"

The Giant jumped back up into the clouds and brought back down the missing piece. Together, Billy and the Giant used Billy's dad's tools and pieced the watch back together. The Giant made a new strap for the watch and snapped it back around his wrist.

The Giant fixed the hands on the clock to the right time. The ground shook and the wind howled. The rain stopped and the clouds broke apart. The sun appeared and lit up Leaderville as it did five years ago. The grass turned green and flowers started blooming from the ground. The trees stopped drooping and their leaves turned back to green. Leaderville turned back into the way it used to be; colorful.

Billy looked up at the Giant and smiled. "You did it!

The Giant scooped up Billy into his enormous hand and put Billy on his massive shoulder. "No. We did it! Thank you, Billy!" The boy smiled and they both gazed at the village and their fellow citizens together.

The village of Leaderville couldn't believe their eyes! The town was not black and white. They all opened their windows, doors and then they came outside. They gathered around Billy and the Giant. The Giant explained what had happened that fateful morning but the village people weren't mad at all they were just grateful that everything went back to normal.

They could smile again and go to bed at a normal time and never be late for work or school again. They can play outside and enjoy the sunshine! But, most of all they got their timekeeper, guardian, and best friend back, the Giant.

The End