Pandora's Clock

Once there was an old man who owned a small, run down clock shop. Ever since he was a little boy he had been fascinated by the time-keeping marvels. He would wander through the lanes near his house until he came out at the city station. There, he would gaze up into the face of the huge clock that was at the top of the tallest tower, with giant black hands and a pearly white face.  He was mesmerized by simply watching the hands move from minute to minute, hour to hour. He was intrigued by the way that every piece worked together in perfect synchronicity to keep it running.

Eventually he came to own his own clock shop where he could spend his days amongst the inventions he so loved. Every morning, at precisely seven o’clock, he would wander through his little shop tinkering here and tweaking there, making sure his clocks were in pristine condition so that on the hour, every hour, each individual clock would have its big hand hit twelve and the ensuing sound of bells, chimes and cuckoos would fill the room.

Unlike so many other people, this old man did not mind being alone all day, sitting at his workbench, fixing his clocks. He seemed to find peace in the knowledge that he knew everything that was going to happen. However, what he did not foresee was a small clock arriving on his doorstep one morning.

He heard the doorbell ring and hobbled over to answer it. When he opened the door he looked everywhere but there was no one in sight. Whoever had rung the doorbell had simply disappeared. He took a step out onto his doorstep and felt his foot nudge against something. He looked down and saw a clock. He bent down, scooped it up and took it inside to his workbench. As he sat down he found a note attached to the side of the clock. The note read “I give to you something dear; leave me alone or live in fear”. What a horrible note. Whoever had placed this on his doorstep was an incredibly spiteful person. The old man was sure that this must be a joke made to try and spook an old man. He would not show that he was a little frightened; he decided that he would start the clock and place it in one of his many rows of clocks until someone bought it.

So the old man set to work. He gathered bits and pieces and bits and bobs and set to work to fix the clock. Now, this clock wasn’t anything special, really. It was neither extravagant nor as plain as the name John Smith. It was not huge nor was it tiny. It was just an ordinary, brown, antique clock. However, the old man did find one thing quite extraordinary about the otherwise very ordinary clock. As he was studying the clock, about to begin to fiddle with it, he noticed that there was a small, ornate circle that was attached to the clock on tiny, squeaky hinges. As the old man pulled it to the side he saw a small key hole. A key hole for a key that, when inserted and turned thrice to the right, would start the whole inside of the clock turning thus making it chime on the hour.

The old man came to the realization that he was not going to be able to fix this clock without that key so he discontentedly stalked to his back room to place the unfixable clock on a shelf with all the others he had left to gather dust.  Unfortunately, as he was walking into the back room he tripped over a cog that was carelessly left lying on floor. He barely managed to regain his footing but not before he almost dropped the clock.

Luckily, the clock didn't fall but in the process of nearly tumbling to the floor and smashing a small compartment had slid open underneath the clock and a small gold key had clattered to the floor. The old man bent down and picked it up. He placed the clock on the shelf and took the key out to his workbench. He drew out his dusty old magnifying glass and looked over the key. As he was glancing over the key he noticed that there was a message inscribed into it. It read: "When you insert my heart and unlock my soul, be very wary of things that will unfold." The man thought that that was a very odd message indeed. He sat there confused and stunned. Was that a threat? Was it some kind of cruel joke? He didn't know. He decided that he may as well try the key- what harm could it really bring anyway? All of a sudden he heard loud bangs, crashes and smashes coming from his back room.