The Clockmaker’s Apprentice.. ஒரு கடிகாரத்தை வைத்து பின்னப்பட்ட கதை!

ஒரு கடிகாரத்தை வைத்து எழுதப்பட்ட அழகிய சிறு கதை.. அந்தக் கடிகாரம் வெறும் நேரத்தைக் காட்டும் கருவியல்ல, அது காலத்தின் ரகசியங்களை வெளிப்படுத்தும் ஒரு சாதனம்.

மனிதர்களால் தீர்க்க முடியாத மர்மமான 'எதிர்காலத்தை' அந்தக் கடிகாரத்தின் மூலம் காண்பதா அல்லது அதன் ரகசியத்தை என்றென்றும் மூடி வைப்பதா என்ற தர்மசங்கடமான முடிவில் கதை முடிகிறது.

Once, a small boy who worked with a proud and skilled clockmaker in his town discovered something he shouldn’t have.

He was always fascinated by the beautiful and complex clock in the top corner of the shop. He longed to know its mechanism but never got the chance. One fine morning, the clockmaker himself told the boy to clean it and taught him how it worked. It was not the kind of clock he had learned about before. It was different…so much greater.

The boy wanted to learn more. He asked the clockmaker if he could take it home to study. The clockmaker agreed, but warned him not to break or damage it.

The boy happily agreed and carried the clock home as though it were the most precious treasure in the world. Once there, he carefully dissected its parts and studied how it worked. It was far more fascinating than its appearance. The fine mechanisms, patterns, and motions were all beyond imagination.

But then something strange happened. When he rotated the clock to 10:40 a.m., twelve hours before, his surroundings vanished. A blinding light blocked his view, and from it rose a scene. It was like watching a movie in a theatre, except everything else was gone, only white remained. The scene showed the clockmaker examining the clock, noticing something unusual within it.

Suddenly, the boy was pulled back into the real world. The clock reset itself to 10:40 a.m, but now set for tomorrow, exactly twenty-four hours later.

He realized what had happened. The clock did not simply measure time. It revealed it. Now he must decide: should he let it show the future, a mystery even the greatest man cannot solve, or shut it down forever?

(K.A.Santhoshi, 8th std, GMGHSS, Komarapalayam, Namakkal District)