The Clockmaker
No digit determined his calendar. Every clock he made was set to twelve. He sold these clocks. But when he did, he felt as though time would escape him. So he made more, just to capture the moment he set it. From his small store, he made these clocks in a room that captured just enough light for him not to confuse the smaller arrow with the larger one. Frankly, he could do without light at all. He could recognize every small part by touch. People would come to see his variety of clocks. Not they didn’t like them. They were just barely sold. But this did not discourage him.
Across the street from his small store stood a larger one. This store sold watches. Many kinds of watches. The kinds people wore on their wrists and carried in their pockets. The store was so successful that people had to wait in line to get one. The clockmaker took one of his grand clocks and went to this store. He could not pinpoint a reason as to why he wanted to go there. Maybe, just to figure out why these watches sold and his clocks did not. He came in and saw a store owner, who was younger than him.
‘Hello…’ said the clockmaker.
‘How do you do?’ responded the watchmaker.
‘Your watches are surely something I must say’.
‘If you’d like to buy one you must wait in line.’
‘I actually don’t need a watch.’
The watchmaker looked up. ‘Don’t need a watch?’
‘Not really’.
‘Oh, I recognize you. You are the man from across the street.’
‘That’s correct.’
‘How is your clock business going?’ gloated the watchmaker.
‘The business - poorly. The craft - great.’
‘A craft you say? What do you craft?’
‘Time. Wait, no! I hope that I craft time. Or at least a feeling of it..’
‘Time?’ the watchmaker looked up from his watches.
‘Yes, Time.’
‘And what time is it now?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Well, how could you craft time if you don’t even know what time it is?’
‘I don’t need to know it. I feel it…’.
‘This looks nice…’ the watchmaker noticed the grand clock ‘No one could wear it though…’
‘No one, that’s right. But you know…’ began the clockmaker.
‘… many, especially young, find it difficult to determine the time by looking at the arrows of the Big Ben clock. Do you think we should replace it with the digital ones?
‘What for?‘
‘Well, of course everyone will immediately understand what time is it…’
‘Are you crazy?’
‘There. Right there. Now you felt time!’
‘Huh...?' said the watchmaker. He looked at the grand clock again and something new appeared in his gaze.
•
The next day approached, for the clockmaker slower than the watchmaker.
‘Excuse me, sir!’ a strictly dressed woman appeared at the door of the clockmaker’s store.
‘Yes?’.
‘I am the property manager of this area. I come bearing bad news.’
‘Bad news?’
‘ I am afraid we have to close your shop.’
‘Why?’ obviously this was a needless question since he already knew the answer to it.
‘Not enough profit… not enough sales…’
‘I understand. Not that it eases my pain, but I understand.’
‘I’m sorry’.
‘It’s your job…’ he stopped working, but his palms still felt the grand clock's texture. As if time itself was running through them. He knew this was coming. There were really few sales. Meanwhile, the watchmaker’s store was growing. And the man decided to go there once more.
‘You, again?’
‘I.’
‘I’ll tell you what, old man. I have been thinking about you.’
‘Have you?’
‘Yes. Something happened. As if time started to move faster for me'.
‘What do you mean?’
‘It doesn't just go anymore, it passes.’
‘It really does.’
‘And what should I do about it?’
‘Nothing. Live it. You just grow. In all senses. And you are trying to find the meaning. Otherwise, why is everything? It doesn't matter if you find it, but it's just as important to look for it.’
‘But every time I make a new watch, I feel like I'm losing time.’
‘No, you are not. You make money for food. You need food. It is not true that an artist should be hungry, he just should never be full’.
The watchmaker looked out the window, seeing how the workers were removing the signs from the clockmakers shop.
‘I heard about your store…’ said the watchmaker.
‘Yes. It is quite sad, indeed. I brought another grand clock to show you what I can do.’
‘Does this mean you want to work here? With me?’
‘I was hoping so', the clockmaker chuckled.
‘Put it on…' and the watchmaker handed him a fresh made watch.
The man did.
‘How does it feel?’
‘Hot…’
‘That’s because the leather is fresh.’
‘So I just wear this around my wrist?’
‘Yes. Pretty neat, don’t you say...?’
‘I mean, I guess it is neat.’
‘Come, sit down. Let me show you how to make it.’
The clockmaker and the watchmaker sat side by side, adding essence to time. And although the clockmaker still made his clocks at home, he started making watches during the day, earned his rightful due, and felt at peace. He felt as though time did not necessarily have more or less meaning, or that he was able to capture it better, but that time, now, was more accessible.
Years passed. And soon, the watchmaker, opened his very own clock store.
~
