Writing Lessons 2.5: The window
“A heart is
like a crystal pond.”
That was something my sister told me once. She never explained it to me but she was always saying it like some kind of catch phrase. I had always racked my brain for the meaning but never thought to ask her till after I had moved away. My sister was one of the two people I cared the most about in this world and now I was cut off from her for the rest of my life.
The great cloud cities had seemed like the next big step of humanities development and I had jumped on the chance to be on that first flight. Don’t get me wrong I’m not some big explorer type or anything but a woman at work had announced she was going to set up a shop of her own and was looking for people who where good with fiddly little machines. I had volunteered after a suitable delay and with the best impression of apathy I could muster; she didn’t know it yet but I was in love with her and would follow her to the stars and beyond. So that was how I wound up contentedly working for my most precious person in a clock shop on a floating city.
That was until it all went wrong. Only two were left in the air of the huge fleet that they had rolled out to the fanfares; all the others had crashed and burned long before. One was hovering over New York with something broken so it couldn’t move and the only way to repair it would first have to drop it onto the city that never sleeps.
Death and destruction followed where the cities went and so the only successful city was considered a country in and of itself. Me and my new boss were among the passengers of the city known as Avalon. We were to stay over international waters or else it would be considered an act of war and we would be destroyed. We weren’t even aloud to have any contact with the outside world and everyone aboard was considered officially dead. The worst part is we would last till we malfunctioned since the whole city was designed from the ground up to be self sufficient.
I woke from my memories to the sound of rain hitting my window, well I called it a window but it was actually the glass face of the clock on the front of the building. I lived in the loft above the store and my boss, Dawn, had the apartment at the back. While I technically had more floor space it was mostly taken up stuff belonging to both of us, stock for us to sell and all the gears and clockwork that made the big hands move.
I glanced at my reflection in the mirror propped against some boxes of watch batteries. My upper body was covered in criss-crossing scars; even though we were a two person operation we were basically in charge of every analogue time piece in the whole place so I spent large chunks of my life dangling from a harness in front of large clock faces or crawling around inside the inner workings. It was a painful and difficult job but the only skill I had was that I just got how clocks worked. No one was better at fixing or making them on this city than I was and it was something that helped Dawn then I was OK with the pain.
I open the small fridge in the corner and pulled out some carrots to feed my pet rabbit in the hutch next to the window. She was fat, old and blind but she was the last reminder of the earth I once knew; she was a going away present from my sister. I ruffled the fur on her head as she munched gratefully on the food. “Well Mrs Snuffleupagus looks like today is going to be a wet one, again.”
Looking out the window I saw the cat was still there. Every day a cat was there sat on the fence outside looking at my window and it was starting to unnerve me. I shook it off and started to get dressed for work today. With the rain it was going to be a slow day and we didn’t have any big repair jobs today so I would get a chance to work on the secret project I was working on. It was a present for Dawn’s birthday and it would be finished soon which was good since the day was a week from now.
Dropping through the hatch I landed behind the counter. There was a ladder but I much preferred to jump since it was quicker. My eye twitched as my heart gave off a small twinge of pain which was only to be expected after my accident and surgery. But I couldn’t stand around all day; it was time to open so I flipped the sign on the door the proclaimed Welcome to OUTATIME where you are never out of time! and flicked the lock open.
“Hey how’s it looking out there?” I turned to see Dawn had just walked out of the back door in nothing but a long t-shirt. I should be used to it by now since it was a regular occurrence for her to walk around not entirely clothed but I still spluttered at the surprise. Dawn merely yawned and looked at me incomprehensibly for a moment and then looked down at herself. “Oh yeah that. You shouldn’t take things so seriously all the time Tik-Tok.” She sighed and turned back to go get changed for the day.
I had long given up on trying to get Dawn to call me by my name; she settled on Tik-Tok when she found out how good I was with clocks and it only got worse with my replacement heart. I know we have way better tech in the city and I could get something way better but I made my clockwork heart myself and I trusted it way more than anything anyone else could build.
I sighed and mentally prepared myself for another day of work alongside the woman I loved.
I only had one part left to make of Dawn’s present and it took a lot of figuring on paper before I started it. It sounded like a good idea to spread all my scribbles out on the counter but when a customer opened the door and a blast of wind came in they scattered everywhere. “Oh I am dreadfully sorry about that.” The elderly woman said and as she turned to look at a grandfather clock on display I saw her say something under her breath. Typically people didn’t care about the clock maker until their watch was broken.
To my surprise the kid that was following her ran up and started picking up the pages for me. “Mister? What’s this all mean?” He asked as he handed them back to me.
“Ever seen the inside of a watch?” The boy shook his head. “Well this is what’s inside them and makes them go.” I pointed to the familiar logo on his shirt. “I see you’re a fan of The Heavy Press.” That was another thing about our new home; some people had developed powers beyond those of normal humans. No one was quite sure what had caused it but we were starting to seem like a comic book. There were heroes and there were villains and their fights were what caused most of our business; the clock in town square was always getting broken by them. No one knew what was causing it but I would love to have a power just in case I ever needed to protect Dawn.
“I love him! He’s so strong and powerful but he always uses his strength to help others! He would never harm an innocent or let anything happen to them while he is around! When I grow u-”
“Daniel! Stop talking to him now and come with me. This shop does not suit our needs.” And with that she grabbed his wrist and dragged him out the door.
I was about to go back to my seat when a hand passed over my shoulder and pointed out a certain phrase. “That doesn’t look like clockwork to me.” Luckily Dawn wasn’t good at this kind of thing so she wouldn’t know what the actual work meant but the bit she had pointed out was just something I had jotted down while I was deep in thought. A heart is like a crystal pond.
“Oh yeah that was something that my sister once told me. Don’t ask me what it means cause I have no idea.” I said turning around, putting the stack of paper under the counter and starting to clear up my pens and other miscellany.
Dawn looked at me quizzically, “Isn’t it obvious? A heart reflects those around it. If you are around good people then you can help being good but on the other hand evil only begets more evil.” She sighed. “Then there is the fact that if you disturb a pond then the effects will be big but eventually the ripples will die out and disappear. At least that’s what I think; it’s a good interpretation and some mighty fine words to live by.”
I thought about this for what seemed like a long time before I came to a conclusion. “They might be words you and my sister could live by but I don’t think I could. I’ll concede to the reflection part but a pond doesn’t seem right to me. Maybe more like a mirror. Because when a mirror falls and breaks into a thousand pieces then it’s so much easier to leave it on the floor than cut yourself picking it up and when you do finally fix it then the cracks will always be there waiting for you to take a look at yourself and realise just how broken you really are.” Dawn looked shocked and concerned all at the same time; I had never shown this side in front of her and it must be distressing to see me like this. She started to say something but I cut her off. “Could you look after the store for a while? I need to go for a walk.”
I turned and left before she could stop me. The rain hit my skin hard but ignored it as I walked past the cat still sat on the fence.
I had spoken from experience. I really had broken my heart once and it hurt me so much I couldn’t really try anymore. That was why I couldn’t tell Dawn how I felt.
My heart is like a broken mirror...
That was something my sister told me once. She never explained it to me but she was always saying it like some kind of catch phrase. I had always racked my brain for the meaning but never thought to ask her till after I had moved away. My sister was one of the two people I cared the most about in this world and now I was cut off from her for the rest of my life.
The great cloud cities had seemed like the next big step of humanities development and I had jumped on the chance to be on that first flight. Don’t get me wrong I’m not some big explorer type or anything but a woman at work had announced she was going to set up a shop of her own and was looking for people who where good with fiddly little machines. I had volunteered after a suitable delay and with the best impression of apathy I could muster; she didn’t know it yet but I was in love with her and would follow her to the stars and beyond. So that was how I wound up contentedly working for my most precious person in a clock shop on a floating city.
That was until it all went wrong. Only two were left in the air of the huge fleet that they had rolled out to the fanfares; all the others had crashed and burned long before. One was hovering over New York with something broken so it couldn’t move and the only way to repair it would first have to drop it onto the city that never sleeps.
Death and destruction followed where the cities went and so the only successful city was considered a country in and of itself. Me and my new boss were among the passengers of the city known as Avalon. We were to stay over international waters or else it would be considered an act of war and we would be destroyed. We weren’t even aloud to have any contact with the outside world and everyone aboard was considered officially dead. The worst part is we would last till we malfunctioned since the whole city was designed from the ground up to be self sufficient.
I woke from my memories to the sound of rain hitting my window, well I called it a window but it was actually the glass face of the clock on the front of the building. I lived in the loft above the store and my boss, Dawn, had the apartment at the back. While I technically had more floor space it was mostly taken up stuff belonging to both of us, stock for us to sell and all the gears and clockwork that made the big hands move.
I glanced at my reflection in the mirror propped against some boxes of watch batteries. My upper body was covered in criss-crossing scars; even though we were a two person operation we were basically in charge of every analogue time piece in the whole place so I spent large chunks of my life dangling from a harness in front of large clock faces or crawling around inside the inner workings. It was a painful and difficult job but the only skill I had was that I just got how clocks worked. No one was better at fixing or making them on this city than I was and it was something that helped Dawn then I was OK with the pain.
I open the small fridge in the corner and pulled out some carrots to feed my pet rabbit in the hutch next to the window. She was fat, old and blind but she was the last reminder of the earth I once knew; she was a going away present from my sister. I ruffled the fur on her head as she munched gratefully on the food. “Well Mrs Snuffleupagus looks like today is going to be a wet one, again.”
Looking out the window I saw the cat was still there. Every day a cat was there sat on the fence outside looking at my window and it was starting to unnerve me. I shook it off and started to get dressed for work today. With the rain it was going to be a slow day and we didn’t have any big repair jobs today so I would get a chance to work on the secret project I was working on. It was a present for Dawn’s birthday and it would be finished soon which was good since the day was a week from now.
Dropping through the hatch I landed behind the counter. There was a ladder but I much preferred to jump since it was quicker. My eye twitched as my heart gave off a small twinge of pain which was only to be expected after my accident and surgery. But I couldn’t stand around all day; it was time to open so I flipped the sign on the door the proclaimed Welcome to OUTATIME where you are never out of time! and flicked the lock open.
“Hey how’s it looking out there?” I turned to see Dawn had just walked out of the back door in nothing but a long t-shirt. I should be used to it by now since it was a regular occurrence for her to walk around not entirely clothed but I still spluttered at the surprise. Dawn merely yawned and looked at me incomprehensibly for a moment and then looked down at herself. “Oh yeah that. You shouldn’t take things so seriously all the time Tik-Tok.” She sighed and turned back to go get changed for the day.
I had long given up on trying to get Dawn to call me by my name; she settled on Tik-Tok when she found out how good I was with clocks and it only got worse with my replacement heart. I know we have way better tech in the city and I could get something way better but I made my clockwork heart myself and I trusted it way more than anything anyone else could build.
I sighed and mentally prepared myself for another day of work alongside the woman I loved.
I only had one part left to make of Dawn’s present and it took a lot of figuring on paper before I started it. It sounded like a good idea to spread all my scribbles out on the counter but when a customer opened the door and a blast of wind came in they scattered everywhere. “Oh I am dreadfully sorry about that.” The elderly woman said and as she turned to look at a grandfather clock on display I saw her say something under her breath. Typically people didn’t care about the clock maker until their watch was broken.
To my surprise the kid that was following her ran up and started picking up the pages for me. “Mister? What’s this all mean?” He asked as he handed them back to me.
“Ever seen the inside of a watch?” The boy shook his head. “Well this is what’s inside them and makes them go.” I pointed to the familiar logo on his shirt. “I see you’re a fan of The Heavy Press.” That was another thing about our new home; some people had developed powers beyond those of normal humans. No one was quite sure what had caused it but we were starting to seem like a comic book. There were heroes and there were villains and their fights were what caused most of our business; the clock in town square was always getting broken by them. No one knew what was causing it but I would love to have a power just in case I ever needed to protect Dawn.
“I love him! He’s so strong and powerful but he always uses his strength to help others! He would never harm an innocent or let anything happen to them while he is around! When I grow u-”
“Daniel! Stop talking to him now and come with me. This shop does not suit our needs.” And with that she grabbed his wrist and dragged him out the door.
I was about to go back to my seat when a hand passed over my shoulder and pointed out a certain phrase. “That doesn’t look like clockwork to me.” Luckily Dawn wasn’t good at this kind of thing so she wouldn’t know what the actual work meant but the bit she had pointed out was just something I had jotted down while I was deep in thought. A heart is like a crystal pond.
“Oh yeah that was something that my sister once told me. Don’t ask me what it means cause I have no idea.” I said turning around, putting the stack of paper under the counter and starting to clear up my pens and other miscellany.
Dawn looked at me quizzically, “Isn’t it obvious? A heart reflects those around it. If you are around good people then you can help being good but on the other hand evil only begets more evil.” She sighed. “Then there is the fact that if you disturb a pond then the effects will be big but eventually the ripples will die out and disappear. At least that’s what I think; it’s a good interpretation and some mighty fine words to live by.”
I thought about this for what seemed like a long time before I came to a conclusion. “They might be words you and my sister could live by but I don’t think I could. I’ll concede to the reflection part but a pond doesn’t seem right to me. Maybe more like a mirror. Because when a mirror falls and breaks into a thousand pieces then it’s so much easier to leave it on the floor than cut yourself picking it up and when you do finally fix it then the cracks will always be there waiting for you to take a look at yourself and realise just how broken you really are.” Dawn looked shocked and concerned all at the same time; I had never shown this side in front of her and it must be distressing to see me like this. She started to say something but I cut her off. “Could you look after the store for a while? I need to go for a walk.”
I turned and left before she could stop me. The rain hit my skin hard but ignored it as I walked past the cat still sat on the fence.
I had spoken from experience. I really had broken my heart once and it hurt me so much I couldn’t really try anymore. That was why I couldn’t tell Dawn how I felt.
My heart is like a broken mirror...