The Watchmaker’s Widow

After her husband’s death, Miriam kept his watch shop open out of habit. Every morning she wound the clocks, listened to their rhythms, and waited for something to change.

One evening, she found a clock she’d never seen before — a strange brass timepiece with no hands, no numbers, just a steady heartbeat. Attached was a note:

“For when you’re ready to start again.”

Days passed. The clock began ticking louder, syncing with her own pulse. Then one night, it stopped — and all the clocks in the shop stopped with it.

The climax: In the morning, customers said the shop smelled of lilacs, and a new clock stood on the counter — one that ran perfectly, engraved with the words: “He’s still waiting for you, just beyond the hour.”