The Clock Shop (ORIGINAL VERSION)

12

I was stuck thinking about my greatest fears, and how I might've put myself in the same situation as Amanda.

     I couldn't imagine being in a room full of clowns or spiders. I wonder what her biggest fears are.

     I told Mr. Clifton about what Amanda told me in her letter and he was creeped out and didn't blame her for not wanting to come back.

     "I wouldn't want to come back if I saw that either," he said with a concerned look on his face.

     My mind went back to when he said he never explored the tunnels himself, how he was too scared.

     "How long have you owned this shop?" I asked.

     "I bought it in 1980," he looks around, admiring the shop. "I bought it when I was 34 years old. But this wasn't the first one."

     "You had another one?"

     "Yes, but it burnt to the ground in 1977," his expression seemed sad. "I had only owned it for 5 years."

     "You were only 29?"

     "That's right," he had a look, a look of thinking of his younger years. "Where did the time all go?"

     I didn't know what to say, I was only 27 years old. So I asked a question to change the topic away from age. "Where was the store?"

     "I rented a spot in Madrid, believe it or not. I was traveling in Europe and had just come from Germany. I had lots of clocks from my trip and was staying in Spain for a few days before I flew back to America.

     "I was staying in a smaller part of Madrid at the time and was venturing into a little strip of stores. It was a lot like the one here. Anyways, I found an empty shop for lease and had already been thinking about owning my shop.

     "I called the number on the lease sign when I got back to my hotel room, and using all my Spanish-speaking abilities I was able to get a good deal for rent."

     "That's so cool," I was very surprised at how suddenly he was able to rent the shop, but he had just mentioned he was only staying there for a few days. "Weren't you going back home to America though?"

     "I still had a day or two left, so I ended up canceling my flights back home and finding a place to stay temporarily before finding a nice, affordable apartment nearby."

     I thought about how he has a sister and thought that probably around that time she was starting to have a family, including a daughter: Amanda. "What did you do about your family back home?"

     "I had lost touch with my parents when I told them about my passion for clocks, they wanted me to work in a field that could make a lot of money. And my sister had run away at the time to start a family because my parents didn't approve of her boyfriend.

     "But just a few years later after owning that shop, there was a massive fire at the place next door which ended up burning my place down too."

     "Which led you to move back to the U.S.?"

     "Exactly."

     "That's a complicated story, but it's good you were able to get back, but what happened to your clocks in Madrid during the fire?"

     "Some burnt down along with the shop, but I was there when the fire started. I saw the flames start next door when I was returning from grabbing food, and ran into my shop to grab as many as I could, knowing the fire would spread.

     "There was nothing I could do about some of the bigger clocks, but I was able to find more when I went back to Europe in the 90s."

     I was so interested in his story, and I think it made him feel seen. I had no idea about any of this, but it still doesn't answer another question I have: "Were the tunnels here when you bought it?"

     "I believe so," we both looked toward the pendulum clock. "I discovered it when I was moving some of the junk left behind here. I got this place for very cheap; the guy selling it didn't want to have anything to do with it anymore."

     "Should've been a red flag," I laughed.

     Mr. Clifton chuckled. "At the time I just wanted to start up in another place. Then, later on, I was able to get back in touch with my sister and meet her family."

     "Then that's when Amanda started working here?"

     "Well, my sister and her husband decided to move here after I told them about how nice of a town it was."

***

I felt like I was much closer to Mr. Clifton after talking to him about this. He felt like family to me, and I wondered if he had one of his own. I was glad to work for him at his clock shop.

     I was on a whole new adventure when I started there. I'm grateful I got fired from my job at the mechanic shop, this job is much more welcoming and fun. Full of mystery and family.