Magic+-+Time+Out

=Time-out!=

The hallway was quiet except for the sound of softened footsteps. Tony crouched down as he tried to reach the door. Just a few more steps… another step….just one more… “TONY! Where do you think you’re going?!” screeched a high-pitched voice behind him.

Caught at last, Tony thought.

“How many times have I told you to finish your homework before going out? Don’t you have any responsibility? Blah blah blah….”

Tony’s head was down as he pretended to listen at his mom’s lecture on the usual stuff about responsibility. This happens so often. He wished so much to run away and go play with his friends. He was just a normal 13 year-old who hated homework. Looks like she’s finishing up. I better nod. “Good. Now go finish your homework,” his mom said.

Tony pretend to tread upstairs. After walking about half the flight of stairs, he hesitated, and waited. He heard his mom walking to the kitchen to prepare today’s lunch. It was his only chance. Tony darted out the door, slamming the door so hard it nearly fell out of the hinges. A few moments later, his mom came running after him and stopped at the front door, but it was too late. Tony’s friends gave him the nickname Quicksilver because he could move so swiftly in the crowded hallways at school that he was never late for class at all. Around the corner and straight into the street, Tony was running like the wind. Tony was victorious. His breath was quick and short. Even though he was fast, he wasn’t fit and was often tired after a short distance. That was why he couldn’t make the cross-country team at school.

It was cold outside and luckily, Tony was wearing a gray baseball jacket and long jeans. He was on a small street. On his left were rows and rows of little shops and stalls. On his right was a large field of maize and wheat and all sorts of grain. It stretched all the way to the horizon. The sky was dark and cloudy. His friends wouldn’t come out in this weather anyways. So Tony walked with his hand in his pockets and went to find Uncle Tom. Uncle Tom opened an antique shop on this street. He was always welcome there. Uncle Tom was a nice man. He had a neat trimmed moustache and always wore those old-fashioned tweed coats. He was a man of antiquity himself.

Tony could see he was closer because he can see the flickering neon sign in front of Uncle Tom’s shop. It read: Tom’s Antique. Underneath it was a wood sign, worn out by the weather and it read: Treasures of Time. Tony opened the wooden door of the shop and a little dingle of bells was heard. The glass on the door was clammy and cold. He went in and a sudden smell of old stuff smacks him right in the face. He loved the smell of old worn wood and dusty bronze and copper. All around him, he was surrounded by a lot of shelves and in each of those shelves were antiquities of all sorts. From ancient telephones to even a cigar tin with real cigars from the last century inside, this shop was not like any other. The whole shop was peaceful as there isn’t a lot of people during the day. He looked around for any new things that were bought by Uncle Tom.

He saw a gum machine that looked dusty, a ceramic duck staring down at him, and in the corner of his eye, he saw a tiny golden timepiece. It was the ones that have those long chains and a big button on the top. He saw quite a lot of those in the black and white films he used to watch with his Uncle on Saturdays. There was something different about this watch. He wanted it. He desired it. He felt his feet moving by himself toward it. He was about to close it when…,“My dear nephew! I wasn’t expecting you. Oh dear, this isn’t a time to come here. Did you run away from home again?” Uncle Tom said I his gentle voice with a teasing tone.

Tony nodded and smiled. “Will you keep it a secret between us like always?” Tony pleaded.

Uncle Tom gave the thumbs up. “Come on. I have something to show you.” Uncle Tom gestured with his hand to his personal storage room. This was where he kept the really hard to find valuables. Tony saw a picture of his grandparents on a shelf. They were now resting in peace. God-bless their souls, Tony prayed.

Uncle Tom wave for him to see something. In the back of the shop connecting Uncle Tom’s little room was another shop. It was a big cavern of old stuff. These things were only sold to the highest bidder for this was really, really old stuff. Uncle Tom went and picked up something from a shelf. Tony could see that it was a little silver thimble. “This is just a little present. I’ve been keeping it here because I was afraid that some old lady would want it to use with her sewing. So I’m giving this to you.”

“Uncle, I already have a lot of stuff.”

“Fine then. I’ll let you pick any of the treasures here.” Uncle Tom did not like to use the term old stuff but preferred treasure because all this was treasure to him.

Tony’s first thought about the little clock earlier. “There is something I want.” Tony tugged Uncle Tom’s sleeve and took him to the clock. Tony noticed the price tag for the first time. It costs only $2.

“I’ve been trying to get rid of that. You can keep it if you want but there is more stuff to choose from. You sure you want it?”

“Of course, Uncle.” Tony waved Uncle Tom goodbye and left the shop with the clock cupped in his hands. The metal felt cold and smooth in his hands. He turned it around in his hands and he noticed for the first time the clock wasn’t ticking so he thought of winding it. His thumb felt for the little indention on the watch. He pushed the little knob on the clock and the most amazing thing in the world happened. The birds stop flying and floated in mid-air. It was an eerie feeling to have a flock of silent birds staring back at him with motionless eyes. Rustling leaves on the street suddenly stopped in its path. Everything was quiet. For the moment Tony experienced, nothing moved. Not even a slight wiggle. Tony felt a sudden lurch in his stomach. //What have I done? Was it the clock?//

There were a thousand questions in his head and the only thing remained clear: Time stopped. Images of people he knew ran through his mind. What will happen to them? What about Uncle Tom and Mom? He ran like crazy home and he opened the door and yelled loudly.

“Mom, where are you? Mom!”

His voiced echoed loudly in the hallway. He yelled until his throat was sore and he recalled that his mom was in the kitchen. He dashed to the kitchen and saw her. His mom was in the middle of cutting up carrots. Stopped while cutting carrots would sound better. Her knife was touching the carrot and nothing happened. There was a blank expression on Tony’s mom.

The whole world has stopped spinning, no, the whole Universe is still, and what was left was Tony. He felt really lonely being the last moving thing on Earth. But then there was the little joy of all the things he wanted to do that no one cared and tried to stop him. He looked at his clock in his hands and wanted to smash it to smithereens. But if he did, how will he get everything back to normal? //If I pressed the button and time stopped, should I press it again?//

It was a big decision over a little thing. His thumb pressed the little knob and…,“Tony? Is that you?” said a voice from the kitchen, “Tony, if that’s you, boy are you in trouble.”

He was so happy and all the life in the world returned back to normal. Tony darted to his mom and gave her a big hug. Little did he know, however; the clock had disappeared from his hand. Its golden coating and complex clockwork, not forgetting to mention its powers, never existed in the memories of any other person other than Tony (and perhaps Uncle Tom and its past owners).

“I’m sorry Mom. You wouldn’t believe this.” Tony started on the story but his mom thought he was crazy. In the end, Tony finished his homework and went to sleep.

The next day Tony woke up and dressed hastily, even for a Saturday. He ran out of the house without any breakfast and went to Uncle Tom’s antiques. The sound of tingling at the door greeted him as always and he went into the shop to find Uncle Tom. He wanted to tell his Uncle so much about his amazing story because he knew Uncle Tom would believe him. But then in the corner of his eye, he saw a little gold glimmer.

The sound of it ticking echoed his ears: Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock-Tick…