The clock tower that loomed in the center of the village had long since ceased to move. No one knew why, but there was an unspoken rule passed down for generations: “Never touch the clock tower.” The villagers obeyed this rule, and over time, they grew so used to its presence that they forgot it was even there.
Seventeen-year-old Ellis was different. For her, the stopped clock was a mirror of her own frozen past. After losing both her parents to a sudden disappearance in her childhood, she had lived alone with her grandmother. She believed, with unwavering conviction, that “the village’s time has stopped because the clock tower is broken.”
One day, stealing away from her grandmother’s watchful eyes, Ellis pushed open the heavy door of the clock tower. The rusted iron creaked as it gave way, and a musty, stale air greeted her. Inside, a massive machine of gears and springs emerged from the shadows. It was a complex structure, like nothing she’d ever seen before. Covered in dust, it still held a kind of sacred beauty.
“If I can fix this, maybe everything will change…”
Ellis brought out a toolbox and began the daunting task of repairing the mechanism. She scraped away rust, polished the gears, and applied oil to the creaking parts, repeating the meticulous process day after day. Finally, she reached the very top, where the clock hands had been frozen in place. As she tightened the last screw, the hands began to move ever so slowly.
At that moment, the village transformed. The houses appeared newly built, the trees surrounding the square looked fresh and green, and the once-quiet plaza buzzed with life and energy Ellis had never seen before. But as these changes unfolded, her own memories began to fade. She could no longer recall why she had started fixing the clock in the first place.
“What… was I doing?”
When she came to her senses, Ellis found herself lying in the village square. Around her stood unfamiliar faces, all looking at her with warmth and gratitude.
“You’ve finally returned.”
Those words stirred something deep within her. Though she couldn’t summon a single concrete memory, she felt as if she had regained something immeasurably precious. Among the revitalized scenery, she spotted an old photograph lying on the ground. Picking it up, she saw her younger self smiling alongside her parents.
As the clock tower resumed its endless ticking, it seemed to take her lost memories with it, leaving only the echoes of what had been restored.
