Father Time

Everything is made beautiful in its time, even if the Hours tries to steal your minutes. Time flies! In an abandoned lighthouse on the coast of Great Point in Nantucket, Massachusetts, an elderly bearded man opens the windows to a bright morning. Over time, he has converted the tower and its nearby buildings into The O’Clock Shop, where he makes and repairs clocks. His shop is filled with little clocks, big clocks, grandfather clocks, wrist watches, and pocket watches. Each of them tick-tock at once, causing most customers to feel dizzy with the noise, especially when he turns up an unknown radio station that only plays songs about time. As the beach waves crash against the shore, they create an ebb and flow rhythm almost like a clock. With each splash of water, a new timepiece comes alive as the clocksmith tinkers away, hoping he can help defeat the evil Hours, his nemesis who loves to steal time. From time to time, Mother Nature visits Father Time, bringing groups of tourists that are interested in his magical clocks. She lives up the coast in a small cottage overgrown with flowers, fruit trees, and stalk vegetables. Flowers intertwine with the golden locks of her hair, as if the daises and roses grow from her own scalp. Depending on which clocks the customers buy, Father Time shows his patrons how to turn back the Hours, turn forward the Hours, make the Hours stand still, and even extend the Hours. Most customers are confused at Father Time’s advice. The idea of what he says could happen is beyond their ability to believe. In most of his clocks, Father Time hides instructions in a back secret door, where customers can find the information when they are ready to confront the fleeting time in their lives. Although the Hours leaves Father Time threatening notes sometimes, he throws them out and keeps selling his clocks. When a large gust of wind rushes through The O’Clock Shop, the Hours appears outside standing in the high grass with his skeleton body covered in a black robe. A pale horse accompanies him. Father Time warns his clock customers that no one deserves to have even a minute stolen from them. The Hours is ruthless and has already taken so much from so many people, but not if Father Time has anything to say about it.