The Clock Was Ringing

Ben's story

"What?" asked Karli.

"Come with me, I have to show you this."

She followed behind him silently. The expression on his face was enough to understand these wooden dolls importance. He first went to the main door of his workshop and flipped his "were open" sign the other way. And kept going to the door behind his counter. 

Karli has been there a few times, it's where he makes all of his little gadgets, repairs, and many other things in that room. They went in closing the door behind them. She realized the room looked more spacious than it was from before but was just filled with more salvaged parts for his work. 

It still had that wretched stench of oil and metal in the air. They halted at a wooden door on the ground. Ben pulled it open with a key he had in his back pocket.

"You never told me about this."

His fat body was still able to fit in the tight space. It was pitch black inside with only the steps to guide them down below. Ben's well rounded body blocked any light that might be on the other side so Karli treaded carefully to not trip.

"You should have at least put a light bulb in this place."

"I couldn't lest anyone would find the wires to it."

"The wires are put inside the wall Ben. Who would find them?"

"The electrical engineers that put it there first of course!"

"Can't you do that?"

"I may be great at making small doohickies but not like..."

"Putting a light bulb the ceiling with the wires on the wall?"

Ben sighed "Ok ok you win, woohoo for you. I just forgot about it that's why."

Just when she was about to boast her victory she heard the grip of a door handle and a golden lining of Ben's fat body for a few moments until her eyes were blinded for a few seconds. She went in, eye widened at all there was in the room. Maps, pictures, sticky notes, computers, and coffee mugs scattered the place like droplets of water from the aftermath of a storm. 

Karli went from one map to another looking at all the pictures of people, places, weapons etc. connected by complex lines drawn by a marker. Each map was connected to the other with a surplus of duct tape and lines drawn over them. She followed all the pictures and their complex relationships with one another until one of them stroke her.

"Ben?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is my father's picture here?"

"Oh I was meaning to tell you soon about that."

"About what exactly?" Her tone grew in anger

"That your dad... is involved in our predicament." Ben said with a partially frightened face. He's seen how she beat up that one guy who tried to steal from Ben's shop a year ago. Poor sucker left town after that. 

"Our predicament?"

"Yeah... um let me explain."

She crossed her arms and said "Go ahead then."

He sat on a nearby chair and began to speak. "Now then, all of this goes way back when you were still a little girl."

"When I was still a little girl?"

"Uh... yes..."

"Do you mean to tell me you knew my father?" She spit out the last word at him. Ben was helpless at the moment, all he could do was respond.