The Confession Dial

Sarah sat impatiently waiting for the next present,

“Is there another one?” She asked hopefully,

“Yes, but you need to promise me you will never get rid of it.” Sarah’s grandpa said stepping toward her with a blue box tied with a big satin bow.

“I won’t! I won’t!” Sarah said clapping her hands impatiently, blue was her favorite color after all.

“Promise?” He asked,

“Pinkie promise.” She said hooking her pinkie with his,

“Pinkie promise.” He agreed, handing her the present.

Sarah tore excitedly at the wrapping paper, but when she got to what was inside she stopped to admire it. Inside the pretty blue box was a small golden sphere with strange circular engravings criss crossing across its surface. Excited, she pulled it out of the box. It was heavy and she struggled to lift it to her ear, but when she did her face lit up. For what she heard was the slow mechanic ticking of a clock. Sarah gently placed the sphere back in the box and threw her arms around her grandpa.

He grinned, “So you like it?”

“Oh! Grandpa I love it!”

“Remember that secrets lie within the clock, and if you do the secrets will find you.”

“I will. Oh, thank you! Thank you!” She said squeezing him tight one more time before letting go.

“I can’t believe it! I finally have my ‘Clockworth’!” Sarah said excitedly going back to admire the precious sphere. She was so excited that she didn’t see the worried faces of her parents.

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Sarah bolted awake, it would have almost seemed that that day was a happy one, but yet it had haunted her every second of every day since her seventh birthday. That day had seemed like the happiest day of her life until the next morning when she had received the news.

After her grandpa got home and was fast asleep someone broke in. They say they searched the place top to bottom. Her grandpa may have tried to stop them, but he was found outside his shattered living room window the next morning, shards of glass everywhere and long since dead. The police searched his upturned house for anything that the robbers may have wanted, but they never found any evidence of who did it, or why, or even if the robbers found what they were looking for. But Sarah new what they were looking for, and flashes of that fateful night hit her.

Her grandpa had pulled her aside after the party and in a hushed tone he said,

“Sarah, do you know what that is.”

“Well in your stories you mentioned a sphere that was so complex, if opened the owner would have the power to control the past and future. If it was used right it could be used for the good of the world but if placed in the wrong hands could bring the destruction of time itself. But grandpa those are just stories they don’t mean anything.”

“Ah. But that is where you are wrong. There are often some truths in stories. Your birthday present was that very sphere as you seemed to have guessed.”

“Of course I guessed.”

He took her hand in his, “You need to understand one thing Sarah, they’re coming.”

Confused Sarah asked hesitantly, “Who’s coming?”

“Bad people Sarah. Bad people.”

“Why would they come for me.”

“Because bad people do bad things. And they’ll do everything in their power to get what they want.”

“But-”

“Sarah! Time for bed!” Sarah’s mom called leaning out the doorway,

“There is no time. Search the sphere for secrets and they will find you in ways you would never imagine.”

Sarah’s grandpa grabbed her in a hug and whispered the two words that would decide her fate, “If there ever be a day that I won’t be with you remember, always remember these two words. Confession dial.”

Stunned and confused Sarah pulled away from him and waved goodbye to him before watching him drive away.

A tear slipped down Sarah’s cheek as she sat in bed thinking. To think he had been so confident about her situation set her on edge and he was right strange things were happening to her.

One time when she was ten she was taking a walk and she locked eyes with one of the neighborhood cats. But what happened next surprised her, the cat completely froze. It didn’t blink, and didn’t move, it was just frozen mid-stride.

When she was nine she was playing dolls on her bedroom carpet and she spotted some dust bunnies on the floor. She blew at them but instead of moving away from her the dust bunnies moved toward her. And when she was thirteen she was in school and couldn’t stop looking at the clock to check the time. One particular time when she was checking the time the clock hands started moving way faster than they should, she willed them to slow down before someone noticed and instead of slowing down they completely froze. No one noticed that day but the next time she went to school the clock was working again.

Her grandpa had mentioned that strange things might happen to her. Curious she grabbed the sphere from her nightstand. Letting the trickling light from the window reflect off its smooth golden surface.

“I wonder.” She whispered, fingering the engravings thoughtfully. She pressed on one of the circular engravings and it collapsed almost like a button.

“Hmmm.” Sarah whispered giving the centerpiece a twist, the sphere creaked before turning. And the circle she had pressed on flipped, revealing a small black screen.

“What are you up to?” Sarah whispered to the sphere, and the the black screen showed the number five-thousand glowing in a brilliant white.

“five-thousand huh?” She said gently touching the glowing numbers, and they changed again. Now four-thousand nine-hundred ninety-nine.

“Ok. Let’s try this again.” Sarah said touching the screen again. The numbers changed to four-thousand nine-hundred ninety-eight.

“Oh I see. You’re counting down, but for what?” She whispered as the number changed to four-thousand nine-hundred ninety-seven.

“Whatever you’re doing I’m going to find out.” She said placing the sphere back on her nightstand. Tired she sank back into bed falling into a fitful sleep.

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The next morning when Sarah woke up she dragged herself out of bed and to the bathroom to do her hair. Even though she was tired she wanted to look at least somewhat nice so she lifted her light brown hair and pulled it into a ponytail. But when she did she froze for what she saw were the numbers three-thousands seven-hundred fifty-eight imprinted in black across her neck. She watched as the numbers disappeared and reappeared as three-thousand seven-hundred fifty-seven .

“Oh no you don’t.” She threatened, as she hurried back to her room to find the ball still counting down. She watched as the numbers turn from three-thousand seven-hundred fifty-five to three-thousand seven-hundred fifty-four.

The smooth golden sphere glistened innocently in the soft morning light.

She pointed an accusing finger at the ball, “You’re trying to tell me something aren’t you?”

Sarah sat on her bed watching the ball curiously, then hesitantly she pressed on the small black screen. The screen flashed a picture of a maze. It was dull and looked extremely complicated giving it a wary sort of look as if it were centuries old. There was a flash of green light and two figures appeared in the distance walking into the maze. Then the sphere’s screen flashed the numbers three-thousand seven-hundred fifty-two. Sarah sat there thinking for a moment,

“Who were those people in the background?” She asked, but the ball just kept counting down.

“Well whatever you’re doing I’m going to find out.”

Author Notes: That was totally random, hope you guys enjoy that one. Also, I'll try to get around to correcting any typos soon.

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