The Keeper of TIme

Nightly Stroll

Katherine burst through Peter's door panting. She found him running around his house packing a deceivingly small bag. He shoved clothes and food into his bag for a few more minutes before he noticed Katherine watching him. Peter's thoughts were going a mile-a-minute; he had no idea what he was going to do, but whatever it was he knew he had to do it alone.

"I'm leaving Katherine. There must be a mistake, there is no way that I am the son of the Keeper of Time." Katherine tries to butt in but Peter stops her, "And you can't come. You're not going to leave your life here just for me to find answers. Besides, I'm going to the Garden, and who knows if I will survive the trip."

"No Peter, there is no way I'm going to let you leave alone." Katherine was desperate, willing to try anything to not get him to leave. "You just can't go Peter, I cannot lose you."

After talking for a long while the two come to their own conclusions: Peter believes he has convinced Katherine that he isn't leaving on his own (when he is definitely going to), and Katherine knows him better not being convinced by his sudden change of mind and ready to follow him without his knowledge.

As the clock strikes 11 o'clock Katherine says goodbye to Peter, telling him that she is headed home and promises to be safe. But instead of making the long walk across Eden she stays outside of his house, in the bushes, just out of sight. Unknowingly she dozed off and it was a few hours later that she was jolted awake by the sound of Peter not-so-quietly sneaking out of his house.

Peter walks down the dimly lit street praying he doesn't get stopped by The Keeper of Time, that he doesn't bother to look at the blip on his map in the middle of the night. "Surely he is asleep" Peter thought to himself "And why would he stop someone on a nightly stroll? It can't be that important, there must be tons of people that walk at night." Peter surprisingly was right, he walked for blocks and didn't get hit with a single roadblock.

Katherine on the other hand was struggling to keep up. She had already been delayed several times, first a cat stopped her tripping her up every time she made a step, then a gust of wind blew the map she needed away, which caused her to rip a hole in her bag, and the list goes on. Katherine was tired but she knew she had to keep up with Peter. She had stayed behind him silently almost the whole way to the Palace until she was attacked by the same cat she saw earlier. It reached out its claws scratching her whole arm, and Katherine let out a yelp.

Peter was startled by the sound and quickly turned around afraid he was going to be attacked, when behind him was none other than his best friend being attacked by a cat.

"Katherine?" he yelled at the cat, scurrying away at the sound of his voice. "I guess The Keeper of Time is watching." Peter thought to himself before turning his attention back to Katherine. "What do you think you're doing here?" Peter asked.

"Following you, and what do you think YOU are doing here?" Katherine snapped back agitated. "You told me you would never leave me but here you are, bags packed and ready to go." Katherine crossed her arms turning away from him "And of course being your best friend I know when you're lying, because you're horrible at it."

Peter stuttered at first, taken aback, Katherine had never been mad at him before. "I have to do this Katherine, can't you see? And I have to do this alone, I'm not dragging you down with me. If this is true, that I'm the son of The Keeper of Time, then I have to leave everything behind including you."

"It doesn't have to be that way Peter. If you are what they say you are then you are the second most powerful being on this planet and you can do whatever you want. You can change the rules. But you're right you do have to do this, but just not alone." Katherine argued.

Peter finally gave in, realizing he could never win in an argument against her. She was right he would be able to change the rules, he could still have a life, a life with Katherine. The pair started their journey again, Peter telling Katherine his plan that he was going to the Garden to get the truth from The Keeper of The Light.

The Keeper of the Light is an all knowing being that controls all life. She lives in the Garden, the land below Eden, tending to the Tree. This tree however is special, it doesn't grow leaves or flowers, it holds lightbulbs. These lightbulbs all represent life. The Keeper of the Light changes the bulbs when they get dim and replaces them with shiny new ones from her basket. It's a life for a life, everything perfectly balanced in Eden.