31 Comments
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Honeygloom's avatar

Such an interesting tale! I love all the mystery and the idea that we’re all represented somewhere by our own clock is fascinating.

Alex S. Garcia's avatar

Yeah, I thought that would be an interesting thread to pull on ;) Glad you enjoyed it.

Liz Zimmers's avatar

What a lovely, fairy tale feel this has. Clocks do have a magic about them, don’t they?

Alex S. Garcia's avatar

Thanks Liz! They sure do haha. I think it might have something to do with our fascination with time.

Nick Winney's avatar

I loved this idea - and how you made us hate Marsha. Some clocks can't be fixed. This is so true. Really captured the twilight zone vibe with this...lovely take on the mysterious clockmaker. Thank you for this one! :-)

Alex S. Garcia's avatar

Appreciate that Nick, as I had some doubts if I got the vibe right 😅 Happy you liked it.

Nick Winney's avatar

yea really did get it right Alex - had a great feel to it, and a nice ethical finish mwoohahaha

Bryan Pirolli's avatar

Loved this. It was so warm but also so tense. Very satisfying at the end. Thanks for contributing your story to The Midnight Vault II!

Alex S. Garcia's avatar

Thank you Bryan, glad you enjoyed it ;)

Angela Allen's avatar

Great story! Unsettling. Love the idea of the clocks and the clock worker.

Alex S. Garcia's avatar

Thank you Angela! Really glad you enjoyed it.

M.P. Fitzgerald's avatar

Arwin is the best neighbor. I dug this story, it genuinely feels like The Twilight Zone!

Alex S. Garcia's avatar

Oh cool! So glad you said that, cause I wasn't sure if I had the vibe right.

Don't get me wrong, I like this story a lot, but the way it ends doesn't feel twisty enough. Like, in a TZ episode the twist will usually drop at the very end, while here it happens a little earlier. I couldn't figure out another way of doing it though.

But I'm probably just splitting hair at this point 😂

M.P. Fitzgerald's avatar

The vibe is perfect, and the reveal felt like it was in the right spot.

Emily S Hurricane's avatar

There’s also something so poignant about Marsha not being able to stand the sound of her own clock…

M.P. Fitzgerald's avatar

I really dug this too!

Alex S. Garcia's avatar

Oh! Ha! You know, I hadn't even thought about that. It's one of those details where your unconscious is doing something smart and cool without you even realizing it LMAO. Nice.

And yes, please, be very careful when you clean your clock... you never know 😉

Emily S Hurricane's avatar

Very cool story! Makes me wanna be extra careful next time I’m cleaning my clock 😅

Jeannine Lawall's avatar

This was great! Marsha was a piece of work...

Alex S. Garcia's avatar

She was, wasn't she? It's sad to know there are really people like that out there. But there are people like Peter too, so yay! ;)

Thanks for reading.

Jeannine Lawall's avatar

Yep, I'm married to one of them! 😁

Happy Nielsen's avatar

I enjoyed this! I hope they take good care of their new clock 🥹

Alex S. Garcia's avatar

So do I! I'll pass your message along 😁

Caitriana NicNeacail's avatar

Excellent story Alex!

Alex S. Garcia's avatar

Thank you Caitriana! Glad you enjoyed it ;)

MA Knight's avatar

Neat!!!

Gregory Blair's avatar

Nice! I enjoyed this very much! A fun new set of shoes on well-worn tropes. Well done!

Alex S. Garcia's avatar

Thanks! Happy you connected with the story.

Charlotte. D's avatar

This was so eery but there were genuine moments that made me laugh out loud, I love Peter's sardonic sense of humour.

I really enjoyed this, the tension building with the clocks was brilliant!

Alex S. Garcia's avatar

Thank you! :D Glad you liked it. It was fun to write.