Bedtime Stories

Once upon a time, there lived a girl named August.

August loved her brown wristwatch that ticked the seconds by faster than the clock on her dashboard.  She loved things that were out of place and the wristwatch stood out more than your regular one.  She decided one day it was because she had found it in an antique shop.

Kevin worked the night shift at the antique shop.  It was a lovely place that was open 24 hours, because you’d be surprised how many people needed something old in the middle of the night.  One night, around three in the morning, the bell that hung from the front door of the shop rang out and Kevin lifted his head to find a girl walking in.  She was unlike any girl that Kevin had ever seen; with red hair to her waist and green eyes that reminded him of grass.  He stood dumbly for a moment before quickly coming to her aid.

August told Kevin that she had found her wristwatch in the store.  She went on to explain that she was looking for an identical one she might someday give to the person she cared most about.  Instead of strange, Kevin found this endearing and so they searched together for a matching wristwatch. 

Hours it took, wristwatches were searched; many like the one that August wore, but none that ticked the time the same.  August nearly threw the search into thin air when she noticed something shining on the counter of the shop.  She inquired of Kevin what the object was when Kevin fell silent, his eyes resting upon the same object. 

It was his watch, he replied and gingerly lifted an identical wristwatch into his palm.  August, stepping closer, asked if she could see it and the watch was exchanged into her hands.  Leveling the clock with her own, she found the time matched more perfectly than she could have ever imagined. 

She stared for a long while at the plated glass and wondered aloud to Kevin what it could possibly mean.  Lifting her green eyes to his blue ones, he replied that maybe instead of waiting for the time to come when she would find the person she cared most about, the time waited for her.