The Watch

“You already owe us five thousand from losing the bet at the hover car races. Now you owe me another five grand,” my bookie, Rancor, said. I’d run, but he had two mean looking and fully armed thugs with him.

I shouldn’t have bet on Slow Seth Sullivan the Snail, the worst runner in the anti-gravity races. They were all slow since they had to race through a field where the gravity had been turned off, so it was more like swimming through the air, but Slow Seth was the worst. The odds were favorable though, a thousand to one, so if he did win, I’d have made a fortune.

“Next time, I’ll bet on a robot boxer. Maybe you could fix a fight for me, program one to lose. I’ll bet on the winner, then I’ll have the money to pay you,” I said.

“That’s not how this works. If I let people win, I’d be the one in debt,” Rancor said.

“Maybe you can get everyone else to bet on the losing robot? Then everyone else would owe you money instead of me,” I asked.

“That’s actually not a bad idea. But I can’t make anyone bet on the loser, so I’m still going to have to get my money from you before I fix any fights,” Rancor said.

“Well, I don’t have it,” I said bluntly. He smiled at one of his thugs and tilted his head in my direction. The thug walked up to me and punched me in the face so hard I thought my eyes had hit the back of my skull.

“You have until tomorrow,” Rancor said.

I drove home as fast as I could. I unlocked my door and kicked it open like a cowboy kicks in batwing doors at a saloon.

“Oh, John, how did you get that black eye?” Darla asked me.

“I owe some money to my bookie,” I said.

“I thought you had a plan to pay him off,” Darla lamented.

“I did have a plan, but Slow Seth lost the race,” I said.

“Wait, your plan was betting on Slow Seth?” Darla asked. I nodded.

“That was a terrible plan, John. What will you do now?” Darla asked

“I was thinking I could pawn your engagement ring,” I said.

“No, you can’t. This is our engagement ring. It means too much to me,” Darla said.

“I’ll get it back, I swear. I just need to buy some time with the bookie,” I said.

“Ok, John, fine. But you better get it back,” Darla said and practically threw the ring at me after removing it from her finger.

I was walking to the pawn shop and some jerk on a hover bike practically ran me over. He swerved around me seconds before slamming into me, but generated enough force to splash water off the side of the road and all over my body.

I kept walking and eventually made it to the pawnshop, but I was still soaking.

“We sell towels here,” the shopkeeper said.

“I’m actually here to sell you something,” I said. I took out the engagement ring and slammed it on the table.

The shopkeeper took out a microscope to examine it.

A few minutes had passed and the shopkeeper said slowly, “This ring is worth just over fifteen hundred dollars. I’ll give you one thousand for it.”

“One thousand, that’s it? It’s worth at least five thousand, and there’s some places willing to pay ten thousand for it,” I shouted.

“Then you’d be a fool to take my offer,” the shopkeeper said and smiled.

“Twenty five hundred,” I growled.

“Not a penny over one thousand,” he said.

“Fine, but you’re taking advantage of a desperate man here,” I said begrudgingly.

He took out one thousand dollars in crisp new bills and counted them out in front of me.

Before I left the shop, I looked around to see what other junk this place had.

I stopped when I saw an awesome looking watch.

“How much for the watch?” I asked

“One thousand dollars,” he said smugly.

“How about one hundred!” I said.

“No deal,” he said.

“Fine,” I said and took out the one thousand dollars he just gave me and slammed it on the table.

“Watch, please,” I said.

“Ok, but this is a very special watch. Nobody knows who made it, and the person who sold it to me said it controlled time,” the shopkeeper said.

I scoffed.

“Yah, ok buddy. See you later,” I said then exited the shop.

“What a tool,” I mumbled.

I looked at my new watch, figuring I’d set the time before I headed home.

The time on the watch was correct, but I was pressing every button on the watch to see what they all did. I pressed one button and the sun went down, as if time was rewinding. When I double clicked the same button, it was sunrise all over again. Then I touched a button next to it, and the sun immediately started moving forward, the day rapidly advancing. I double clicked the button again, and time started flowing normally.

Holy crap, this thing really did control time.

I smiled and came up with a plan. There was a factory close by that made uniforms, so I went there and had them customize a security uniform for me. They also made badges, so I got one of those too!

I changed into the uniform and drove to the bank.

I asked for a manager and told him I was the vault inspector and flashed my badge.

“What are you inspecting for?” The manager asked suspiciously.

“The locks on a few of our vaults aren’t locking properly. We’re offering free repairs if it’s not working,” I said.

The manager led me to the vault.

“I’ll need to see the inside of the door,” I said. He actually unlocked and opened it, my false confidence must have convinced him.

I pressed a button on my watch and time froze. Great, now nobody would see me walking into the vault. I pressed the time forward button on my watch, because they wouldn’t notice money missing if I stole it from the future. I stuffed my pockets full of cash, walked back outside the vault and traveled back to the present with the click of a button. Time was still frozen.

I stood next to the vault door where I had been standing before I froze time. I clicked the button again and everyone began to move and breathe as normal.

I pretended to closely inspect the door and after a minute, I said “this door seems to be in perfect working order. Let us know if anything goes wrong,” and smiled.

“Will do,” the manager said.

I went back to my house and Darla was in the kitchen waiting for me.

“You know, I was thinking about something, John, and the ring isn’t the first thing of mine you’ve had to pawn. First it was my television, then my mothers antique silverware, then it was my antique gas car. They don’t make gas cars anymore. Now it’s the ring. If you can’t get my engagement ring back by the end of tonight, I don’t want to be with you anymore. That ring meant a lot to me, and if gambling is more important to you then your relationship with me, then we’re done,” she said.

I flashed my cash at her. I then threw a stack of money on the table.

“Where did you get this money,” Darla asked.

“I robbed a bank,” I said and laughed.

“No, seriously,” she said.

“I’m serious,” I said.

“Yah, ok, Johnny. Just get me my ring back before the show tonight, or the pawn shop will probably sell it,” she said.

It was December thirty first, two thousand fifty, and we had plans to celebrate just before midnight at a fireworks show.

Some time had passed and we headed out.

We arrived at the park to watch the fireworks at eleven twenty seven and had been sipping champagne.

“I love you Darla,” I said and smiled.

The show started and it was wonderful. The first fireworks shot off a few minutes before midnight and went on for half an hour.

As soon as the show ended, Darla had asked “did you get my engagement ring back?”

“I forgot, I apologize. I’ll get it first thing tomorrow, I promise,” I said. Darla’s face got red. She slapped me.

“You’re nothing but a degenerate gambler. If you loved me, you wouldn’t have forgotten,” she shouted. People were staring at us.

“I’m sorry, Darla. I swear I’ll…” and before I could finish my sentence, she ran off.

I figured I’d just use my watch to go back in time and get the ring. That will fix everything. I pressed the button and the watch made a strange mechanical whirring sound and time wasn’t moving backwards. I tried again and again, but it made a strange and slow sounding buzz. An error message flashed on the screen before the electric powered hands slowed to a halt.

“What’s wrong with you,” I shouted at the watch.

I got up to chase after Darla, and the sounds around me went quiet. I was about to shout at everyone to mind their own business, but as I looked around, everyone was frozen in place. I caught up to Darla and she wasn’t moving either.

Maybe if I kept pressing the button on my watch, it would work one last time.

I pressed the button that had unfrozen time when I was at the bank. I pressed it again and again, but nothing happened. I continued to press it for a whole minute, but nothing. I even tried pressing some of the other buttons, and still nothing happened.

I looked at my watch and the hands weren’t moving. It must have been out of batteries. I walked to the watch store, but couldn’t get the doors to open. I walked to several other stores that had batteries, and none of them were open, either. I tried throwing rocks at a store who’s doors had glass windows, but the windows wouldn’t shatter no matter how many rocks I threw.

Time was now stuck like this. I walked back to where I left Darla.

Not knowing if she could hear me, I said “I’m sorry Darla. I’m sorry I forgot your engagement ring. If I can ever get this damn watch fixed, I swear the first thing I’m going to do is get our engagement ring back. Then I’m going to quit gambling for good, I swear it. I’ll never place another bet again.”

I took a deep breath, sat down on the sidewalk, and wondered how long things would be stuck like this.