The Clockmaker Who Stole Tomorrow

Make by Hanifullah

In the heart of the bustling city of Aeloria, nestled between narrow cobblestone streets, there was a small, almost forgotten shop: Eldric’s Clockworks. Its windows were always foggy, and inside, clocks of every imaginable shape and size ticked in harmonious chaos. Some were ordinary, some curious, and some… impossible.

Eldric, the clockmaker, was known to be eccentric. Tall and thin, with fingers always streaked with oil, he seemed more in tune with the machinery of time than with the people around him. Whispers among the townsfolk told strange tales: clocks that ran backward, pocket watches that predicted the future, and a grandfather clock that counted down moments that hadn’t yet arrived.

Yet no one truly knew Eldric’s secret.

One rainy evening, a young apprentice named Liora stepped into the shop, seeking work. Her eyes widened at the maze of clocks. “I… I’ve never seen anything like this,” she murmured.

Eldric, hunched over a glowing timepiece, glanced up. “Time is a fragile thing, child,” he said. “One misstep, one broken cog, and the world can shift in ways most cannot imagine. Do you wish to help… or to merely watch?”

“I want to help,” Liora replied, with a determination that matched Eldric’s own obsession.

Days turned into nights as Liora learned the secrets of the clocks. She discovered that each one was not merely a measure of passing moments but a container of time itself. Some held memories, others glimpses of the future. Eldric worked tirelessly, his hands never still, and often spoke to the clocks as if they were old friends.

Then one night, under the pale light of the crescent moon, Eldric revealed his greatest creation: the Chrono Engine. It was a massive contraption, a fusion of gears, glass tubes, and golden hands, powered by a strange glowing core.

“This,” Eldric whispered, “can steal tomorrow—or grant it anew. A single turn of the lever, and I can reshape the day before it even comes. I can save lives… or doom them. But it is not for the faint of heart. Time demands respect.”

Liora’s curiosity burned. “Can it… really change the future?”

Eldric nodded. “Yes, but it comes at a cost. Every moment you take alters countless others. What seems right now may unravel everything else. That is why I have never used it fully… until now.”

The very next day, the city awoke to chaos. A fire had broken out in the market square, spreading quickly through the narrow streets. Eldric’s heart ached. He knew people would suffer, many lives lost, and in a moment of desperation, he made a decision.

“I must steal tomorrow,” he murmured.

Inside his workshop, Eldric activated the Chrono Engine. Gears spun faster than human eyes could follow, and the clocks in the shop began to tick backward. Time itself shimmered and warped. Liora watched, awe and fear battling within her.

Suddenly, the fire vanished. The smoke cleared. The sun rose on a morning that, technically, had already happened—but this time, differently. Eldric had shifted events just enough to prevent the disaster.

The city awoke, none the wiser, streets safe and bustling. Liora turned to Eldric, eyes wide. “You did it… you changed tomorrow?”

He shook his head slowly. “Not without consequence.”

Over the following days, subtle changes began to appear. A merchant remembered selling goods that he never had. A child recalled a game she had not played. Even Liora felt moments of déjà vu that made her stomach twist.

“The Chrono Engine,” Eldric explained, “cannot erase time. It can only bend it. And when time bends, the edges fray. We must be careful. Each stolen tomorrow leaves a thread unraveled elsewhere.”

But Eldric’s curiosity, and perhaps guilt, drove him further. He experimented in small ways: saving a lost cat, preventing a minor accident, helping a man find a missing letter. Each time, the city subtly shifted. People began to feel as if life had changed, though no one could explain why.

Then came the day Eldric realized the engine’s true power—and danger. He noticed a shadow in the clocks, a darkness that seemed alive, feeding on the threads of stolen time. It whispered in mechanical clicks and ticking sounds, promising greater power but demanding a greater cost.

“You have taken too much,” the shadow warned. “The city, the people… you cannot hold time like a treasure. Sooner or later, it will break.”

Eldric understood. He had tampered with tomorrow not just for mercy, but for curiosity, and the balance of time had begun to crack.

In a final act of courage, Eldric and Liora worked together to reset the Chrono Engine. They labored through nights of ticking clocks, shimmering cogs, and sparks of raw energy. With one final turn of the lever, time snapped back, settling into its natural flow. Some moments lost were restored; others faded forever. The city awoke as if nothing had happened.

But Eldric and Liora had changed. They had glimpsed the fragility of time and the weight of choice.

Years later, Eldric passed the shop and its secrets to Liora. She became the new clockmaker, guardian of the Chrono Engine. She never used it recklessly, only maintaining the clocks, ensuring that time’s delicate weave remained intact.

And every now and then, when the sun rose or a bell tolled, she would hear the whispers of tomorrow, faint and fleeting, reminding her of the day the clockmaker stole tomorrow—and learned that some moments are too precious to bend.