Ten Seconds to Midnight One-Shot

  Tick....tock.....tick....tock... 

    An old man lies in  his deathbed. The room is dark and quiet with the exception of a clock  ticking. A dash of moonlight leaks through the window and hits the  hands. It's a dim light, but it's bright enough to make what it reaches  visible in the night. The light reflects into the old man's eyes as his  eyes rested solely on the clock that rested on the dusty dresser feet  away. He breathes heavily in a repeating pattern as his life flashes  before his eyes.

   His days of youth had come to an end, and now  so did his life. He remembered the days when he was not alone, the days  when he had a family, and even the days he didn't want to remember at  all; but most importantly, he remembered where his all began.  

     The hands of the clock reached to midnight, only seconds away now. Each  individual second was drenched with agony. The closer it got to  midnight, the more the old man groaned in distress. Time was almost up.  The sound of rustles echoed the walls as a creature appeared next to the  clock. Its face was masked with the shadow of the night. Only its eyes  stood out from the dark surroundings. They consisted of a glowing  seafoam green color. The eyes of the creature stared contently into the  old man's eyes as he glared at the strange creature.

    In a terrified gasp for air, the old man whispered, "Why...did it come..to this?"

    The creature stood there without blinking and said, "Nothing lasts forever."

    The old man took another breath and said, "What's that supposed to mea-"

    "Time's up."  The creature interrupted as the clock's hands struck midnight. The life  in the old man's eyes slowly faded away as the bitter entity of death  took over.

    The room went silent.

    On the second story  of a coral-colored house, a young girl sat on a chair on her balcony.  She wears a red shirt with a yellow bow on it and red socks with yellow  shoes. A yellow skirt goes down to her knees. She has brown eyes and  light orange hair to her shoulders that curls upward slightly. A gentle  breeze blows her hair back. In her hands, she holds a book tilted Der Erlkönig by Goethe. As she reads, a voice from downstairs calls up to her.

    "Hey Claire, breakfast is ready!"

     She turns her head towards the stairs and calls, "Coming!". She  closes the book and rushes into the house and down the stairs into the  kitchen where her older sister, Charlotte was cooking. Charlotte had  long orange-yellow hair and brown eyes.

    "You're here faster than  usual." Her sister smirked. She carried a plate of pancakes to the  table. "I made us some pancakes."

    Claire sat down at the table and looked around. "Where's dad?" She asked curiously.

    "He had a meeting to go to." Charlotte responded as she sat down at the table.

    "A meeting today?" Claire asked in a surprised voice. "But it's Sunday...."

    "I'm shocked too." Her sister replied. "But he said if it goes well, he could get a promotion!"

    Claire smiled and said, "Oh, that's good!"

     The two siblings peacefully ate breakfast together. Claire spotted  the newspaper with her eyes and picked it up. She skimmed through the  pages in search of an article of interest. In a hopeless search, she  almost set the newspaper down on the table, but then she noticed  something. A familiar name was in the obituaries.

    "Hey Charlotte...." Claire began as she stared at the name in the paper.

    Charlotte looked over at her sister. Her mouth was full of pancakes. "Hmm?"

    "According to this, Mr. Chambers passed away." Claire's voice got low.

    "Mr. Chambers is dead?" Charlotte asked in disbelief.

    Claire nodded and handed the newspaper to her sister. "This obituary says he passed away late last night."

     Charlotte stared into the article with disbelief. Slowly, she  lowering the newspaper onto the table and sighed. "So it is true..."

     "I wonder what happened to him.." Claire looked at the ceiling. "He  looked so well the last few times we went to his bakery."

    "The  article doesn't say what happened at all." Charlotte muttered. "But at  the same time, these things do happen. Plus he was old. He was bound to  pass away eventually."

    Claire didn't respond. She didn't want to  share her sister's views on life. Claire believed that everyone should  be able to live on. Most of all, she didn't want to accept that Mr.  Chambers was gone. Her family had gone to his bakery for baked goods for  generations. She enjoyed talking to him in his spare time. Sometimes  he'd even let her take a pastry home for free. He would be missed  dearly.

    "Oh, look at this!" Charlotte pointed to the article. "This says that his funeral is today."

    Claire looked at her sister with hopeful eyes. "Maybe we should go sis." She smiled. "You know, so we can pay our respects."

    Charlotte nodded. "Yeah."

     They finished breakfast, changed into black clothing, and headed to  the door. The sound of rain could be heard outside. It was heavy and  loud.

    Claire looked out the window and pouted, "It wasn't raining earlier..."

     "What did you expect?" Charlotte muttered while putting on her yellow  raincoat. "This city's name, Regen, is German for rain."

    Claire got into her orange raincoat and sighed. "I know, but I wish it could at least go a day without raining."

     Both of them grabbed an umbrella and stepped out into the rain with  opened umbrellas. They strolled towards the bus stop where several  others were waiting. Each individual greeted the sisters as they  approached the bus stop. An older gentleman turned to them and waved.

    "Well, if it isn't Charlotte and Claire Lovett!"

    "Good morning Mr. Kelly!" The sisters chimed in unison.

     "Well, with all the rain, I'm not sure if you can call this morning  good." He laughed. "Why are you both wearing such gloomy clothing?" He  asked noticing the black shoes and skirts not hidden by their raincoats.

    "We're going to a funeral." Claire looked down sadly. "Mr. Chambers has passed on..."

     A distressed look overcame Mr. Kelly. "Really? Mr. Chambers?" The  sisters nodded. Mr. Kelly suddenly looked sad and said, "I wish I would  of known....he was a good friend of my family."

    "Ours too." The sisters nodded.

     The bus squeaked to a halt. Water splashed on the curb as it stopped  completely. The door opened and the crowd at the bus stop slowly  ventured inside. The bus was rather crowded this morning, and the sisters sat by each other in an open seat.

     The door of the bus was about to close shut when a voice suddenly  called, "Wait for me!". The bus driver held it open as the late rider  walked onto the bus. The moment Claire saw who it was, she thought, "Oh  no..."

    The late rider was none other than Charlotte's classmate,  Amable Smith. He lived next door to Claire and Charlotte, and Charlotte  was rather smitten with him, and much to Claire's disgust, Amable seemed  to return the feelings. He had dark black hair and caramel colored  skin. He wore a blue raincoat and appeared to not have an umbrella.

     Amable immediately noticed Charlotte was riding and headed over to  her. Charlotte noticed too and glanced at Claire. "Can you please sit  somewhere else?"

    "Huh?" Claire got defensive. "Why?"

    "Because I want to sit by Amable!" Charlotte kicked Claire into the bus aisle.

    Claire sighed and sat in the empty seat behind Charlotte as Amable sat down.

    "Long time no see, Charlotte." Amable greeted.

    "Nice to see you too." Charlotte laughed. She stroked her hair with her fingers nervously.

    Claire rolled her eyes has her sister and Amable talked in mushy voices. To Claire, their conversation was a dull mash of dialogue that sparked no interest in those who heard. She  didn't understand what her sister saw in him. She had always had found  Amable to be obnoxious and mean, but to Charlotte, Amable was a handsome  hunk.

    The dry conversation continued on for minutes much to  Claire's annoyance. She sighed and decided things could be worse. Amable  didn't seem to know she was there, and she was happy with that. She  hated when he talked to her since most of the time he would tease her.  She closed her eyes and peacefully relaxed as they ignored her, only to  hear a certain comment.

    "So Charlotte, how old is your sister again? Seven?" The sarcastic voice of Amable laughed.

    Charlotte laughed at this and said, "No, she's fourteen."

    "Really?" Amable gasped in a joking voice. "She looks seven to me!"

     The two burst out laughing. Claire sat there in fury and gloom. She  wasn't very tall for her age and was very self conscious about it. Not  only that, but most people that she was younger than she really was.  Finally, after bearing the sound of their laughter for a minute, Claire  put her arms on the back of their chair and hoisted her head and  shoulders on top of it.

    "Shut up Amable." Claire grunted. "You're not funny."

     They both turned their heads towards her laughing. It was at this  moment that Claire realized that Amable knew she was here the whole  time. She stared at them both with an annoyed face until Charlotte  commented, "That's not nice, Claire."

    "Neither is what he said." Claire muttered.

    "She even acts like child." Amable mumbled while stretching his arms. "So where are you ladies heading?"

    "We're going to Mr. Chambers' funeral." Charlotte answered.

    "Really?" Amable seemed genuinely surprised. "I didn't know he died."

    "He passed away last night." Charlotte muttered sadly.

     Amable looked out the window. "That's too bad." He then looked at  Charlotte again and said, "Well, after you go to the funeral, do you  wanna catch a movie?"

    Claire rolled her eyes with disgust as her  sister cheerfully answered, "Yes! Of course!" Claire fell back into her  seat away from the two of them. She thought that their time out together  would be sister-bonding time, but Amable had to ruin that. Claire's  relationship with her older sister was better when he wasn't around. She  felt as though he had already ruined what could of been a heartwarming  moment between her and her sister.

    The bus suddenly came to a  screening halt. The funeral home was a block away and Claire happily  sighed at the thought of almost arriving at their destination. The  sisters left the bus with Amable staggering between them. The rain was  heavier and they opened their umbrellas wide. Water splashed against  their legs as they trekked through the downpour to the funeral home.  They swiftly opened the door to the building and swooped inside. The  place was swarming with grieving people. The casket remained open and  the lifeless body of Mr. Chambers lie there peacefully.

    A church pastor marched up to them carefully and asked, "I presume you're here for the funeral as well?"

     The sisters and Amable nodded in unison. Charlotte held her hands  close to her and said, "He was a good friend of our family."

    The  pastor nodded and sighed, "He was a good friend of mine too." He looked  around the room at the massive crowds of people. There seemed to be more  people showing up by the minute. "It appears he was a friend of a lot  of people."

    The pastor turned towards the casket and walked over  to it. Everyone else in the room took their seats and listened as the  pastor spoke. He talked about Mr. Chambers and how he and so many others  were devastated by his death. Many of the listeners broke into tears  each time they heard his name. After awhile, the pastor stepped to the  side and family, relatives, and friends all walked up front one at a  time to share thoughts and stories about their deceased loved one. Some  time had passed, and after numerous people spoke, no one walked up front  to speak.

    Charlotte nudged Claire in the silence and whispered, "Claire, you should go up there."

     "Huh?" Claire was surprised by her sister's suggestion. While in  truth, Claire did have a lot she could say up in front about Mr.  Chambers, there was one little detail her sister seemed to be  forgetting: Claire was afraid of speaking in front of large groups of  people. Talking in front of a few people didn't bother her, but in front  of a group this size was too much for her. She darted her eyes at  Charlotte and whispered, "Why me? You know I don't like public  speaking."

    Charlotte pushed Claire onto her feet and declared, "My sister would like to speak."

    The pastor smiled and said, "Is that so? Come here Claire. Don't be shy."

     Against her own will, Claire dragged her feet to the front of the  room and gulped. Her eyes roamed about the room trying to count the  number of faces present. There had to be about two-hundred people there  at least. She began to sweat nervously and lost her train of thought. In  the crowd, she noticed both Charlotte and Amable had devious smiles.  This was a planned public humiliation.

    "Um..." Claire took a deep breath. "Mr. Chambers was a friend of mine and my family."

    The whole room went silent as she began to speak. All eyes were directly glued to Claire. It all just made her more nervous.

     "W-we used to go to his bakery all the time." Claire stuttered  nervously. She tried her best to avoid eye contact with anyone. "He  would give Charlotte and I donuts for free sometimes." She looked down  and remembered something he had told her. She gulped and looked into the  eyes of the crowd. "Most importantly, he always told me that any dream I  had could come true if I believed!" She smiled a bit while saying this  and wondered how true his words really were. She nervously stood there  without saying anything for a few seconds before saying, "That is all."  and headed back to her seat.

    The pastor smiled and said, "Thank you for sharing Claire." The room then filled with conversations and voices all around.

     Claire marched back to her seat and sat down. She angrily glared at  Charlotte and Amable, who both happened to be laughing quietly. Claire  hissed, "Why'd you make me go up there? You know that I'm shy!"

    Charlotte smugly shrugged and smirked, "I just thought you'd have something interesting to say,....and you did."

     Time passed and the people at the funeral home slowly began to left.  Conversations drifted from stories to recent news and other unrelated  events. The family members of Mr. Chambers were huddled in the front of  the room. They appeared to be looking at antiques and belongings of Mr.  Chambers.

    Full of curiosity, Claire ventured up to the front of  the room were the others were huddled. In the center of them all was a  table of antiques and other ideas. In front of the table, the pastor was  going through a will to determine to whom each item would go to. As he  went through the list, each item was distributed to the person to whom  it now belonged. Soon, all the items had a new owner, all but one.

    A little girl at the front pointed to it and asked, "Mr. Pastor, what about that one?"

     The pastor looked at it curiously and adjusted his reading glasses in  confusion. "I don't recall reading anything about this one in the  will.." He quickly skimmed through the will and concluded, "There's  nothing written about it!"

    Claire made her way to the front of  the crowd and caught a glimpse of the item causing the commotion. It was  a clock composed of a honey-yellowish brown wood. The top was round and  curved three-quarters of the way around and then had a flat surface at  the bottom. Just below the face of the clock was a strange gray symbol  made up of four points and a swirl in the center. A pink plush rabbit  was draped over the top. It had seaform green button eyes and a red  nose. A red felt scarf was perched on its neck, and a red bow with a  yellow feather stuck to it was sitting on the head.

    "If there's nothing written about it, then how do we decide who it belongs to?" A woman in the group asked.

     The pastor shrugged. "I'm not sure how to handle this situation." He  sighed and put his hand on his head. "It's definitely strange that Mr.  Chambers didn't mention this in his will at all."

    "I guess one of us can just take it then." A man said.

    His wife shook her head. "What do we need another clock for?"

    "I already have a clock." Someone in the group stated.

    "So do I." Said someone else.

     Everyone began arguing about it in loud voices. It appeared that none  of them wanted it at all. Claire stood there silently wondering if she  should leave. The pastor noticed her there and said, "Hey, what about  you, Claire?"

    They all looked at Claire. She shivered and said, "Wha?"

    "Why don't you take the clock?" The pastor suggested.

    "Me?" Claire asked in disbelief. "Oh no, I couldn't. I'm not related to him."

    "But you and your family were good friends of his, correct?" The pastor noted.

    Claire nodded. "Yes, we were....but-"

    "Then you should keep it." The pastor smiled. "Take it as a memory."

    Claire looked at the crowd surrounding her. "Well, if it's okay with everyone else."

    They all nodded. "Go ahead Claire."

     She grabbed the clock and lifted it up. It was much lighter than she  expected. The plush rabbit was well balanced at the top and did not fall  when she walked away with it. Claire looked back at the crowd and  wondered if any of Mr. Chambers' family members were upset that she was  now in possession of the clock. None of them seemed to want it on the  outside, but Claire couldn't help but wonder.

    Upon returning to Charlotte and Amable, Claire immediately was met with curiosity.

    "What is that?" Amable asked in confusion.

    "It's a clock." Claire explained. "It used to belong to Mr. Chambers."

    "So why do you have it then?" Charlotte asked accusingly.

    "The pastor suggested that I keep it." Said Claire.

    Charlotte rolled her eyes and said, "Whatever. Amable and I are gonna go catch a movie."

    "A movie?" Claire recalled their either discussion and sighed. "Which one?"

     "The murder mystery one!" Amable deviously grinned. "I've heard that  someone gets cut into pieces and stuffed into a kid's stuffed animal."

    "I think you're a bit young for it Claire." Charlotte commented with concern.

    Claire puffed her cheeks. "I didn't want to go anyways."

    "Well okay." Charlotte waved goodbye. "See ya at home!"

     Claire returned home shortly after leaving the funeral. She carried  the clock upstairs and into her room and put it on the nightstand next  to her bed. She looked at it to check the time and noticed that it was  late afternoon. Her sister wouldn't be back anytime soon.

    She  went downstairs and made a sandwich for herself. Unlike her sister,  Claire was not a good cook. Without Charlotte at home, Claire had no  choice but to feed herself however she could. After eating, she went  back upstairs to her room and sat on her bed. She picked up her book  tilted Der Erlkönig and read  through the poem. After reading the one poem, she grabbed another book  of poems by Goethe and began slowly reading through them all.

     Hours passed and her sister still did not return home. Claire  disregarded it and continued reading. She was used to her sister not  coming home some nights. Their father would most likely not return home  that night either. Claire was alone like this often, but she was used to  being alone.

    It became dark outside. The rain had stopped and a  stilling silence swept the room. The lamp next to Claire's bed gave off a  dim light. Claire herself was rubbing her eyes tiredly. She put the  books on the night and turned off the light in attempt to sleep.

    However, in the dark room of Claire's that should of been silent, a distinct noise repeated over and over. It went, "Tick...tock...tick...tock...". The noise was none other than the clock she had brought home the very same day.

     The ticking noise left Claire unable to sleep. She sat up in bed and  looked at the clock in the dark. She lifted it off the night stand and  held it close to her eyes.

    "I wonder why Mr. Chambers owned a clock like this...." Claire muttered tiredly.

     She then examined the plush rabbit that had been reclined over the  top of the clock. She held it by its right paw and looked into the  seafoam green button eyes.

    "More importantly, I wonder why he owned something like you." She yawned.

     She set them both down on the night stand again and sighed. The  constant ticking of the clock still prevented her from falling asleep.  She picked the clock up again and looked at it. "I wonder if I can make  this quieter...."

    After minutes of searching for something that  would make the clock quieter, Claire found nothing. She checked the face  of the clock and noticed midnight was minutes away. "I'm never going to  get to sleep at this rate..." She muttered. "Why did I agree to take  this home? Maybe I should just sell it..."

    "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
    Claire  jumped in fear immediately. She looked around in the dark wondering  what had said that. "Is...someone there?" She desperately waited for a  response, but only the ticking of the clock could be heard. She sighed  in relief, "I must be hearing things..."

    "I assure you, I'm very real."

     This time Claire turned on the lamp by her bed. She shivered in fear  as she panned her head around the room in search for the source of the  voice. "Who are you?" She asked with an extremely nervous tone. "Show  yourself!" She stepped onto the floor and kept swinging her head around  in search for someone.

    "I'm down here."

    Claire  looked down at her feet and noticed she was stepping on something. She  lifted her foot up to see the plush rabbit toy under her. "It was just  the toy...?" Claire muttered in confusion.

    "I'm not a toy!"

     The plush rabbit suddenly jumped up on Claire's bed. Claire fell back  in shock. She looked up at it and noticed that the plush rabbit looked  less like a toy than before. It looked alive. Instead of buttons, it had  actual eyes. It's red scarf was now made of yarn instead of felt. The  red ribbon and yellow feather on its head looked more real than before.

    "What....are you?" Claire asked in utter confusion while remaining on the floor.

    "Allow me to introduce myself." The plush rabbit greeted and blinked. "My name is Poppin. I'm the guardian of the Mitternacht Clock."
    Claire sat there with a puzzled look. "Mitternacht....Clock?"

    "Mitternacht means midnight. It's the midnight clock!" Poppin explained. "It's a very special type of clock."

     "What does any of this mean?" Claire asked with a confused look. "You  said you're the guardian of this clock, but aren't you just a stuffed  animal? And why would a clock need a guardian?" She put her hand on her  forehead and wondered, "Is this a dream?"

    Poppin shook his head. "Let me explain this all to you." He hopped over to the clock and Claire's eyes followed. "The Mitternacht Clock is a magical clock that gets a new owner every month."

    "Every month?" Claire softly repeated.

    "Correct." Poppin nodded. "Today is the beginning of the month, therefore you are the new owner."

    "Me?" Claire questioned.

    "Correct again." Poppin answered. "Now there's something very important that I must tell you about the Mitternacht Clock."

    Claire got on her knees and was eye-level with the clock. She nodded and carefully listened to Poppin's explanation.

    "Every night.." Poppin began. "When the clock strikes midnight, strange events will occur."

    "What kind of strange events?" Claire curiously asked.

    Poppin blinked and said, "There's  no way to tell for sure. Just know that when the hands strike midnight,  strange events unknown to you and your dreams will take place."

     Claire wasn't quite sure whether or not to believe any of this.  Everything sounded like some plot device straight out of a fairytale.  However, she was intrigued. "So the strange events will directly occur  at midnight?"

    "Err.." Doubt surrounded Poppin's voice. He closed his eyes while smiling in an embarrassed way. "Not always....sometimes the events don't take place until later in the day!"

    "Wha?" Claire didn't understand. "I thought you said they happened at midnight! Not the next day!"

    Poppin sighed and crossed his arms. "Technically, midnight is the start of the day."

     Claire sat on her bed and looked at the clock. Her eyes were glued to  the hands and followed every movement they made. Soon the hands reached  midnight. Claire stared blankly into it before passing out into a deep  slumber.

   

    The sunlight shined through the window and hit  Claire's face. She grunted and yawned as she squinted her eyes open.  Birds were chirping outside of the window and the early morning traffic  could be heard on the streets.

    Claire sat in bed for a few  minutes as a question came to her mind that she hadn't asked the night  before. She remembered that Poppin had said the Mitternacht Clock had a  new owner each month, meaning that the previous owner was none other  than Mr. Chambers.

    "Hey Poppin..." Claire yawned. She slowly  turned her head towards the nightstand with the clock on it. "How did  Mr. Chambers die...?"

    However, much to Claire's surprise, the  only thing on top of the clock was a plush rabbit toy. It was clearly  sew together with button eyes and a felt scarf. There was no way it  could ever of been alive.

    Claire turned her head towards the ceiling and muttered, "Maybe it was just a dream after all....."