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The Golden Watch(Short Story 2)

   I’ve never noticed the sky to be as bright and beautiful as it was at this moment, which was frozen in time. The sun was setting along the west sending vibrant waves of color around the sky; I couldn’t tell where day ends and night begins. I would have stayed surrounded by this breath-taking sight for hours, if I was able to. Alas, the little golden pocket watch was starting to tick again, meaning that time would be set back into motion. Then, as the world started moving back to normal, I moved over to my old 76 Camero and started the engine, wondering what wonders would this watch show me.  
 
    I had been helping with the cleaning of the old dusty attic of my grandparents’ house when I stumbled onto a small little box, which contained a golden pocket watch that seemed to be untouched by time itself. I had asked my grandfather if it had belonged to him, and he said that it must have been his father’s and he hadn’t seen it in years. He held it in his hand and fell back into an old memory, I could see it in his eyes.  
   When he spoke again, he told me that he didn’t have use for it anymore, and that I should keep it. I thanked him and put it inside my pocket, then I went back to working on the attic.  
   A few days later, while I was cleaning the watch, I clicked the little button on top. There was a small click and it started ticking, the minute hand moving backward from the top of the watch.  
  It had moved for about five minutes-from the twelve to the eleven-  before I checked my phone’s clock and saw it had taken less time working on the old watch than I thought it would.  
   I set it into my pocket and walked out of my bedroom door.  If life could look like a picture, still and silent, it had when I looked into the living room. My dad was watching the game on television-which was pretty normal- but he seemed to be standing in mid-touchdown shout. Then I saw the television screen, the little people on it weren’t moving at all.  I had a suspicion of what was going on, and when I checked the time on my phone, it was confirmed by the unchanged time.  
 
    Now, I have known about the watch’s power for a couple weeks now and it has helped me out on a few occasions, granted I never used it for anything but studying the still world and the watch. I have learned that one press of the small button will freeze time for an hour of my perspective and no one else would know. I have also learned that another press inside the hour would return things to normal.  
    I drove home taking the long route, I wanted to frame the memories of the sunset in my mind forever, Then I noticed that an event was about to take place, I don’t know if time with the watch had heightened my abilities or if it was luck that I saw a crash was about to happen before it happened. This is where I had to make a decision of using the watch for good, and I only had a split second.  
   I clicked the watch and I raced out of my car, there was a chance it probably wouldn’t survive this, but I had to act fast. I ran over to the car that this train was about to crash into and I practically jumped into the open window to start pulling the girl out of the car. It was harder work than it should have been, I guess that when time is stopped, things become harder to move.  
   I unbuckled the belt and pulled it out of the way, then I struggled to pull her out. My arms were starting to burn as I slowly dragged her out of the car, then I felt something fall out of my pocket as I slide out the window, pulling her with me. I never had time to notice what could be, for as soon as I pulled her out of the way, I heard distance clicking, I pulled her under my body as the train crashed into the car.  
    This is when time froze without the watches help, my ears started to hurt as I heard her shriek and the screech of twisting metal. I felt something slowly fly across my back and felt it scratch into it. Then time started again and it was over in seconds.  
   I rolled off of the girl and struggled onto my feet so I could see the damage of the scene. There were pieces of her car scattered every where and mine drove off of the road and came to a stop some yards away. I saw two glittering golden pieces of metal, and saw that the watch must have been the item that fell out of my pocket. I picked the pieces up and planned to bury them and give them a proper burial.  
   After all the watch did save someone’s life, and she walked up to me and thanked me. She had been listening to music in the car and hadn’t heard the train coming. I told her that it was nothing, and I asked her if she wanted a ride home. She agreed and as we walked to my car, I noticed time had stopped for a final time, and this time I couldn’t wait for it to start again.
Written by siphondarkness (Levi)
Published | Edited 7th Oct 2012
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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