Chapter 13: I Think I Was Born Today I

First Day they traveled

“Okay, what is the first trinket you have in your satchel?”

“It’s a locket...with a clock inside of it.”  It didn't tick.  “It looks like somebody wrote some markings on it….”

“So who’s is it?”  Niels asked.  

“I’m not sure….  I can’t remember where I got it from.”

“Well we need to find out who it belongs to.  It must be the first piece of the puzzle to regaining your memory….  Where are we?”

“Close to 50 years ago…. I can feel it.”

“How would you know that.”

“I just do…. I’ve been doing this for far too long.  Over time I began to feel time slipping past me, backwards and forwards.  It was like a wave.  A wave that never settled.”  The Traveler professed.  

The two walked into a nearby town.  Where they began to ask around as to where and when they were.  

“Excuse me so sir, do you know the name of this place.”  Niels asked a villager.  

“This is a Redrun.”

“Redrun?  I’ve never heard of this place.  Have you…”  Niels asked the Traveler.  

“It sounds familiar, but I don’t know for sure.  Come on kid, let’s keep looking around.”

“You two must be visitors…”  An old woman said from behind them.

“Yes we are…. We’re here just for the day.  Can you tell me why this place is called Redrun?”

“The river that runs through the heart of this place…. Woman have often chosen the shallow river as the perfect place to birth their children.  It’s warm and relaxing, which is the perfect spot for an agonizing woman.  Once that baby arrives, it obviously leaves a pretty big mess….”  The woman said with a chuckle.  “

“Hmmm.”  

“What are you thinking of.”  Niels asked.

“I’m not sure, but I think I was born today.”

“So you were born in RedRun?”

“I believe so, Niels.  But I can’t be sure until I go someplace.”

“Where do you need to go?”  Niels asked.  The Traveler pulls out the locket again.  
“This has to be where we must go next.”

“Your locket?  Well there is a clock inside of it… but clockmaking is a rare profession…. Not many people have been able to craft a working model.  There must be someone in this town that’s a clockmaker.”

“That person has to be the key.  Let’s go.”

The two ventured deeper into the town, where they came across a peculiar building.  

“This must be it.”  The two entered the building and laid their eyes on a plethora of clocks… but none of them were ticking.  

“This has to be where we need to be… These clocks don’t work.  Just like the one you have…. They don’t tick.”  Niels said.  “Maybe we can ask that man back there.”

There was a man…. In the back…. You could see the stress caused by the silence of clocks surrounding him,  

“Hey… pardon me s-”

“What are you two doing in here!  If you’re from the Agency…. Tell them I’m not finished with my latest project yet… I need more time!  Now go, tell them what I said!”  The man shouted.”  

“We’re not from this Agency… We’re just looking for the clockmaker who crafted the one inside this locket.”  The Traveler said as he raised the locket.  

“Where did you get that!  That’s my most prized possession.  I was planning on gifting it to my son.  You’re thieves!  How did you take it?  Answer me!”

“So it was you…. It was you who crafted this clock.”  The traveler asked.

“That is correct… now where did you get it!”

“I don’t remember….”  The Traveler said faintly.

“You don’t remember?  What does that even mean!”  The man asked.

“It’s a long story.”  He responded.

“Well give it to me…. It doesn’t belong to you.”  The man said as he grabbed the locket from The Traveler.”

“I was going to give it to my son once I had gotten it to tick.  But I have been unsuccessful thus far.  Luckily he hasn’t been born yet… so I have a bit more time to get it to work.  Plus I have the Agency breathing down my neck over a working clock…. So this locket is the key to it all.”

“This is definitely where we must be…”  Niels whispered to the Traveler.

“What are you two gabbering about?”  The man asked.

“Oh nothing…”  Niels quickly responded.  “Your wife… when is the baby due?”

“Any day now, it’s only a matter of time now….”  

“Will you be partaking in the town tradition of birthing in the river?”

“God no…  That is a vile tradition that began to as a joke years ago.  But for some reason… this town has kept the inhumane tradition.  My wife will give birth at home, where she will be comfortable…. What are your names?”

“I’m Niels… and this is my friend… uuhh.”

“My name isn't important.”  The Traveler said.

“Hmm… You two are an odd pair.  My name is John.  I have to get back to work now…. I have to get this clock to work in time.  If you two want to stop by later… you can.  I live right around the corner here.”

“Thanks… we definitely will.”  

The two left the clockmakers shop and wandered around the city.  

“Niels…”

Yeah?”

“I think that was my father…”