Twilight's Ember

First draft/ 12 chapter short story with some music
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In the charming, clockwork village of Twilight's Ember, Alice's life revolves around the tick-tock of time. As the Clock Courier Apprentice, she winds every timepiece, from grand towers to hidden pocket watches, ensuring the town's steady rhythm.
But her quiet routine is shattered when a mysterious, glowing alarm clock calls to her from the lonely church on the hill. It pulses with a melody only she can hear, and soon, Alice discovers it's linked to something far more profound than mere time.
When the magical clock is accidentally wound, it unleashes a chime that shatters more than just glass - it awakens Night Terror, the Queen of Nightmares. Now, a subtle dread seeps into Twilight's Ember, twisting the familiar, turning dreams into fear, and throwing every clock-and every heart-out of sync.
Armed with a peculiar gift and guided by an eccentric scientist and a wise lore-keeper, Alice's job shifts from winding gears to mending souls. To fix the town's fractured clocks, she must first help its charming, gossipy residents overcome the very fears that manifest as haunting 'fright sprites' only she can see.
But as Night Terror's shadow grows, Alice uncovers a truth more ancient and heartbreaking than she could ever imagine: the Queen of Nightmares is not just an enemy, but a wound, a long-lost love connected to the enigmatic caretaker of the church himself.
Can Alice, the humble Clock Courier, restore harmony to Twilight's Ember and mend not just clocks, but the deepest sorrows that threaten to consume the very fabric of time?
#Fantasy #Magic #Clocks #SmallTown #Mystery #FoundFamily #Redemption #Fears #Hope #Whimsical