The Clock That Waited for Midnight

In a quiet European village, there stood a clock tower that never struck twelve. No matter the season or century, it always stopped one minute before midnight. The townspeople called it a superstition, until a historian restored it — and forced it to chime.

When the final bell rang, the air froze. Birds mid-flight stopped moving. Every candle burned backward. For sixty seconds, time reversed — and the historian was never seen again.

The clock now ticks endlessly, its hands spinning faster each night. And those who listen closely say they can hear faint knocking from inside the gears — someone begging to turn it back.