All the Time in the World

The Watch

   I need to get out of here.

   All around me, the residents of the houses on this street are finally opening their doors, lost looks etched into their clueless faces. They can't see me anywhere near here, I know how it works. I'll be taken to the police station and somebody will tell me I have to answer questions or "it'll look suspicious". Yeah, definitely not the day.

   What am I supposed to say? Oh, this is my mom who was dead, but recently rose from the grave and then drove by my school in her pickup truck (which, by the way, contained a weird ass looking gun), wearing a neon glowing watch that I now took (sorry!). Then, she told me to run, but I was too stupid to do that, so I hid behind a goddamn bush and didn't move as I watched a random black van (that conveniently drove off) crash into her car and now she's dead again and her blood is all over me. I promise I'm innocent.

   Even I can't make that sound good.

   So I hide my face in my curtain of mousy hair, and cover my head with the hood of my sweatshirt. Pulling my fallen backpack back onto my shoulders and picking up my deep green headphones from the pavement, I begin to slink away. I do what I do best: become invisible.

   I watch my Converse as they lead me back to my house. I don't look up. Inside my pocket, my left hand hasn't left the strange, glowing watch now bound around my wrist. I can see the pulsating light even through the thick, navy blue fabric of my sweatshirt. Despite the fact that it was previously worn on my deceased mother's wrist, I am fascinated by the accessory.

   I pull out my hand and look at my newfound treasure. The watch is a pristine white and accented all over with thin stripes of aquamarine, pulsing with light that still seems to be drawing me in. Upon closer inspection, I can see that there are tiny symbols carved into the snowy material of it. It all seems so familiar, and truly scratches something in my brain. Certainly, I have never seen anything like this watch before, otherwise I would have recognized it immediately. I rack my brains but come up empty; it's unsettling.

   Well, apart from confusing and captivating me, this watch can assist me in other ways. Checking the time on my phone has always been a hassle and taken too long. I've always wanted a watch, but known that if my father could barely scrape up enough money for our basic needs, there was absolutely no chance of him affording a watch. Now, I am free to know the time of day whenever I choose.

   Speaking of which, I should probably find out what it is right now. How long was I there with- No. I won't do that to myself. I have to stop thinking of her. For the last twelve years, I have shut her from my mind, only thinking of her while gazing at her portrait. Those moments were the only ones in which I allowed myself to slip, to grieve. I promised myself I would be the sad girl only on the surface, not within. If I mourned her, they'd be right. All the people who teased me, every person who looked at me with eyes of pity, everyone who thought of me as less than would win. The names they called me would be true. I can't have that.

   I flip over my wrist and stare at the face of the watch. It is a dark, navy blue and completely blank. No time is shown. No numbers or symbols of any kind appear to me. Only a solid circle of nothingness.

   If it can't tell time, the watch serves absolutely no purpose.

   Somehow, this failure feels like a betrayal on the watches part. I shake off the feeling. Has today really messed with my head so much that I feel emotions for pieces of jewelry? Apparently so.

   Well, there's no point in me wearing the accessory anymore; it's only deadweight. I unclasp the white buckle on the inside of my wrist and drop the watch onto the concrete. It stands out among the grays of the ground and the yellows and reds of the scattered leaves surrounding it. The sight is almost sad. I resume my walk.

   That was Mama's.

   The thought is so sudden and unexpected that I halt in my tracks. It was Mama's. Hell, I even took it off her wrist. If she was carrying it on her person like that, it must serve some purpose. Still, why such a strange watch? Where could she possibly have found it? I wait stupidly, almost expecting a mysterious voice to answer my plaguing questions. No such voice speaks. What can I say? It certainly wouldn't be the most peculiar event today.

   I turn and gaze at the little white watch, lying on its face on the sidewalk. There's no way I can leave it.

   Cursing myself and my flimsy emotions, I bend and snatch the piece of jewelry, buckle it around my wrist, and set off once more.

   Eventually I arrive at my doorstep, steeling myself for more of Katrina's usually annoying talk as I wipe my no doubt blood covered Converse on the lime green welcome mat. If her talk normally peeves me, I have no clue what I'll do today. I could completely ignore her. It is also quite possible that I may rip out her throat.

   Who knows?