My Grandfather's Clock

My grandfather had a clock that he built from scratch. It wasn’t the most faithful thing: the chimes would go off whenever they felt like, and sometimes the clock would run slow. But it was my grandfather’s pride and joy. Then he died. We all mourned, but I think the clock died as well. It never worked after that day. After awhile, we decided to do something with it. And somehow that honor went to me. I had two choices: sell it as is, or try to fix it. I didn’t have much of a preference… [[Sell it]] [[Fix it]]

I wasn’t the handiest person like my grandfather was, so I decided to sell it. Dragging the thing around town was not the smartest idea, so I took a picture of it -along with some measurements- and put up ads. The only buyer I could find was a local pawnshop. “I need to see the clock in person.” the clerk told me. “Okay,” I agreed. So later that week the clerk came to look at the clock. It took about five minutes before the clerk shook his head. “I couldn’t sell this clock,” he said. “It’s from a kit. Kit clocks that are already assembled never sell. Besides, it’s simply too heavy.” And then the clerk left, leaving me alone with the clock. [[Ending<-Well then…]] [[Fix it<-I'm not giving up]]

I wasn’t the handiest person like my grandfather was, but I decided to give fixing the clock a chance. The first thing I did was try to find the original blueprints. Internet archives were the smartest thing humanity ever created. However, that was how I found out that my grandfather never had all the pieces to build the thing. He had improvised on so many accounts that it made the original plans moot. But still, I tried. I picked up hardware that should have worked and carefully disassembled the clock. Videos on similar clocks helped a little. I decided as I had parts scattered around me that my grandfather was either a genius or a complete moron. In the end, I think I ended up making the already broken clock worse. Somehow. [[Ending<-I had to give up for now.]]

In the end, I still had that clock in my possession. It feels like my grandfather is haunting me at this very moment. The clock still sometimes chimes when it wants. It only happens to be right twice a day too. To me, that sounds a lot like what I knew of my late grandfather. Stubborn, good ideas every so often, and -most importantly- a presence in the family that still lingers when he’s no longer in the room. Sometimes a legacy is just a stupid clock you can’t fix or get rid of after the old man dies, apparently. [[Credits]]

Created for the 2024 Neo-Twiny Jam. Pallette: Reading Mode Palette by Mixtie for Lospec Final word count: 490 words