Before After

PROLOGUE

THERE was an unending ticking sound that could be heard in the air as different clocks hanging on the wall, varying from sizes, shapes, and designs, continue on their usual routine. It was a usual melody that depicted deafening tranquility. Yes, it could be ironic to think that the unending noise of the ticking clocks was the manifestation of such deafening peacefulness, but in that place where everything was white yet beautiful, serenity would always depend on the powerful hands of those clocks. As long as those clocks move on the right track of time, there would be no problem.

            Every clock—small or big—stood to represent a time zone different from the other. It was an unwritten rule that no two clocks should proclaim the same time, at the same date, at the same place. Every clock that was hanging at every space of those white painted walls was there to represent a different fate.

            Sitting on a chair found at the side of that place was a girl with long black straight and silky hair, slanted blue eyes that seem to speak, pointed nose, and thin pinkish lips. She possessed a skin as fair as the snowflakes that fall around the corner from time to time. And as usual, she was wearing her white dress which length reached just above her knees. Her head was bowed a little as she was busy fixing an old pocket watch, while her ears were intently listening to all the sounds those almost countless clocks were making. From time to time, she would gaze up and eye a clock, and then carefully note something on her golden-covered notebook using her golden pen.

            In that infinite room filled with noisy clocks of all sizes, shapes, and forms, having sharp senses was what she needed most in maintaining everything in the right place. She couldn’t afford to make a tiny mistake, because it was no secret that time is such a very powerful element. One split of a millisecond could do a lot of changes. Everything should flow right in their tracks—after all, that was her duty as the time keeper.

            A split of a millisecond could change a lot of things. And that was just what caused the time keeper to violently raise her head, her eyes finding the very clock that sounded rhythmically incorrect. Panic flowing on her veins, she hurriedly went to check the malfunctioning clock. And she was horrified when she saw its two hands not even moving a little. Her slanted eyes were growing huge with fear and her hands were shaking as she scanned her notes fast. And she was as if drained when she saw that what was written in her golden notebook was totally different from what was happening. The clock was not supposed to stop! Not at this very moment; not at that very point!

            ‘What did I do wrong?’ she asked herself, digging her mind fast to find an answer to that question. But nothing was making sense.

            With trembling hands, she reached for her tools, hoping that she could fix this trouble. She was praying hard that this was just a little glitch, and she could pass through it with her skills as the time keeper. But because she was the time keeper, and she had been living all her life with these clocks, she was sure this was something far from little.

            And just as what she had feared, she heard a trudging noise nearing the door. She didn’t hear any knock, but the door just burst open forcefully. And it revealed a very fair woman as luminescent as the sun, with long golden locks. Just like the time keeper, she was wearing a white dress. And with the way she was looking at her with those gray eyes, the time keeper knew something must’ve really went wrong.

            “Come with me,” came the sun-like girl’s voice. It sounded so serene, and yet, because of the predicament, it brought more nervousness to the time keeper. “We have to do something. The time is not right.”

---