The Clockmaker’s Secret

(A whimsical tale for those who need a nudge to keep going… or do they?) 

Once upon a time in the fog-laced town of Tick-Tock Hollow, there lived a clockmaker named Elias Winder. Now, Elias was no ordinary craftsman—he built clocks that didn’t just tell time, they whispered it. His greatest masterpiece was the Grand Chronophage, a towering clock in the town square that didn’t tick forward like sensible clocks, but backward, its hands spinning wildly as if racing toward some forgotten hour.  

The townsfolk hated it.  

"Why must your clock defy time?" they grumbled. "It’s unnatural! Unreliable! Downright confusing!"

Elias merely smiled, oiling its gears with a wink. "Ah, but time is just a story we agree upon. My clock? It remembers the tales no one else does."

One evening, a weary traveler named Lira slumped before the Chronophage, watching its hands whirl in reverse. "I’ve wasted years chasing dreams that never came," she sighed. "If only I could turn back time..."

The clock’s pendulum gave a knowing swing.  

Suddenly, Lira gasped—her hands were smoother, her aches lighter. The Chronophage was rewinding her! But not just her body—her memories too. She forgot her failures, her lessons, even her own name. Panicked, she clawed at the clock’s face. "Stop! I don’t want to unlive my life—I want to live it!"

With a CRACK, the Chronophage stilled. Elias appeared, tapping its side. "Clocks don’t move for time’s sake—they move because they must. So why do you watch them instead of moving yourself?"

Lira blinked. Then, she laughed. She left Tick-Tock Hollow that very night, not chasing time, but carrying it forward with her.  

As for the Chronophage? Well… let’s just say if you visit the town square at midnight, you might still hear it ticking backward, rewinding the regrets of those who stare too long.  

Moral? Don’t watch the clock. Do what it does—keep going. (Unless it’s the Chronophage. Then maybe… run.) ⏳