Watchmaker from the Street of Invisible Shadows
The city always seemed painfully ordinary to Igor. Everyday life slipped through his fingers along with the grey light that came into his room through the dusty windows. Everything changed one afternoon when, during a downpour, Igor decided to take a short cut home through an unfamiliar narrow street.
The Street of Invisible Shadows seemed to exist only when no one was looking directly at it. And it was there, between the old tenements, that he spotted a small signboard: 'Clockmaker - repair of all time'. Curiosity prevailed. He stepped inside and the door closed behind him with a quiet click.
The workshop was filled with clocks. Some looked antique, others like from the future. Cogs, pendulums and mechanical birds with glass eyes lined the shelves and floor. At one of the desks sat an old man with astonishingly sharp eyes and hands that seemed to float above the mechanisms.
"I knew you would come eventually, Igor," the Clockmaker said without raising his eyes.
Igor felt an icy shiver on the back of his neck. After all, he had never been here before. "How do you know me?" - he asked a little too quietly.
The clockmaker smiled mysteriously and pointed at the huge golden clock standing in the corner. "This time does not belong to this world. Anyone who touches it must choose: forget or know the truth. But remember, time passes differently here."
Igor slowly approached the clock. The hands seemed to flow against the current, and in the reflection of the glass dome - instead of the workshop - he saw a wild, colourful city like he had never seen before.
At that moment the clock chimed loudly, time in the workshop seemed to stop for a split second. There was blue smoke in the air, and Igor felt a tremor under his feet, as if the floor were about to open up and engulf him into another dimension....
Author of this ending:
English
polski
What Happens Next?