Family Time

Anthony was putting the gears together on a wristwatch while pouting. He could see his friends playing football in the street right in front of his father’s store. They played there a lot because of how empty the street normally is.

“When you’re down with that order, another one just came in. Shouldn’t take you took long. One of the arms needs to be replaced.” His father Tony put the box containing the order next to him on the work bench.

Anthony looked up at his dad with a sullen look. “Why do I have to work today? It’s Saturday and I finished all my homework. Can't I play with my friends for a little while?”

“You know you have to finish working before you can have fun. I can see it's hard not to think about playing when they're right in front of the store but when you're done you can go play.”

Tony walked out of the room to greet another costumer.

Anthony sighed and finished repairing the wristwatch he was working on before reaching for the one his father just dropped off. Then, he heard his father.

“Anthony, I need you to watch the front while I help this costumer.”

“OK.” Anthony put his tools down and walked toward the front of the store. He passed the customer talking to his dad about a pocket watch. “This is an interesting watch. How much is it?” Tony smiled. “I’m sorry sir but it's not for sale. It ‘s a family heir loom. Been with us for generations.”

Anthony couldn't help but chuckle as he walked past the customer. This was not the first time that someone had inquired about that pocket watch and didn't walk out with it. While looking over the store, it dawned on him that he passed that watch many times but has never seen anyone wind it or change the battery. He heard it tick every day but had no idea how it kept going for so long.

He walked over and took the watch out it’s case. Then flipped it overlooking for a battery case and when he didn't find one, his eyes went right to the wheel on the top. While trying to wind the watch forward, he realized that the gears were stuck. Then he moved the wheel backwards to try to loosen them and then back forward again. After trying this a few times he couldn't get the gears unstuck, so he walked to the back to get one of his tools.

When he got to the back he noticed the watch he had fixed was broken again and the other order was not on his bench. Just then his dad walked in. “When you’re down with that order, another one just came in. Shouldn’t take you took long. One of the arms needs to be replaced.”

Anthony looked confused. He knew that his father had already handed him that watch but now he's handing it to him again?

“Anthony, I need you to watch the front while I help this costumer.”

“O….OK.” Trying to figure out what was going on, Anthony remembered he still had the pocket watch in his hand but the time was wrong. He turned the dial to correct the time. As he did, the room sped up. Everything that he thought had happened reoccurred around him. While winding the pocket watch forward and backward, he noticed his surroundings changing. His father was at his work bench, and then he wasn’t, the wristwatch was repaired and then broken, the customer was asking about the pocket watch too.

“The pocket watch is in my hand. How can he be talking about it?”

Antony went to the front and saw the same watch that was in his hand also in the case. He couldn’t believe what was going on when his father turned to him.

“Anthony I asked you to…” Tony noticed that Anthony was curling his hand like he was holding something. He turned to the case with the pocket watch and back to his son. “Did you…” He reached out toward Anthony and startled him. Anthony wound the watch by accident and blinked thinking that he was in trouble.

When he opened his eyes, everyone was gone, but he was still in the store. The weather had gotten colder and the lights looked like they in the old photos his dad had hanging in the store, which were now not there.

“Tony! I need you to finish that repair. We just had two more come in.”

Anthony stood there speechless. “Nonno?!?!” His grandfather Antonio had passed away when he was very young, but he could see him clear as day, and he looked much young than he remembered.

“Dad I’m trying but I can't get this spring to stay in place.” Anthony’s grandfather walked through him to a much younger version of his father.

“This is the wrong size spring. Try this one.” Tony placed the new spring in the watch and it started ticking.

“You’ll get it. Practice on this one.” Tony took a box from his father while looking outside.

Anthony turned to see some boys playing baseball in the street. Then he heard his Nonno. “You can go play with your friends when you’re done.”

Tony didn’t look up. “Yeah.” Seeing how down he looked, Antonio put his handle on Tony’s shoulder. “Wait here a minute.” Antonio went to the front and came back with the same pocket watch that Anthony was still holding.

It was then that Anthony realized the watch wouldn’t wind anymore, forward or backward.

“This watch has been in our family for generations. No one has been able to figure out how it keeps ticking but that’s not the only fun part about it. When you wind it backwards, you can replay what just happened around you." Tony looked unimpressed at his father. “Don’t believe me? Put your hand on it. When Tony touched the watch, the two disappeared for a second. Tony looked stunned. “How did we do that?” Antonio laughed. “That was my reaction at first too. All we know it that we cannot interact with the past after five minutes have passed, and we cannot move forward.”

“Why do you think that is?” Tony asked.

“Well, the past has already been created and you can’t change anything and the future has not been created yet so there’s nothing to change. Why we can interact within five minutes is still a mystery."

Anthony couldn't believe what he just heard as Antonio continued explaining everything he knew about the watch to Tony.

"They went back in time? Where did they go? Who did they see?"

Antonio finished explaining the mysteries of the pocket watch to Tony.

“That’s all I could learn and now I am passing it on to you!”

Tony opened his hand, and his father dropped the watch in it and closed it. He couldn’t take his eyes off it while inspecting it. “What’s this switch do? It slides slide to side but I don’t see anything changing?”

Antonio looks down at the watch. “As far as I know it locks the wheel from winding.”

Anthony looks down at the watch and see the switch obstructing the wheel from moving. He slid the switch to the left and put his hand on the wheel. Pausing, he looked up one last time at his father and grandfather. With a big smile he turned the wheel forward and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he was back at the store only a few seconds from when his dad had startled him. Standing in front of him, his father looked worried. “Excuse me sir, couldn’t you give us a minute?” The customer kept admiring the pocket watch in the case while Tony took his son in the back.

“Are you OK? You look like you don’t know where you are.”

Staring down at the watch Anthony was still smiling. “I didn’t but I do now.”

Tony looked confused. “Why do you keep looking at your hand?”

“Can you not see this?” He held up his hand.

“There's nothing there.” Tony replied

He led his father out front to the case that held the pocket watch. The customer had left and there was no one else by the case. “I have an idea, watch my hand.” He turned the wheel the rest of the way. No more than two seconds went by and Tony saw the watch jump from the case into his son's hand. He Couldn't believe what he just saw.

“It teleport's!” Tony sounded as giddy as a school girl.

“Yeah…well kinda. Also, I saw you and Nonno. Back when you were my age.”

Tony looked down. “I wanted to be the one to show you that. Not just because it's dangerous to use but because of what my father showed me.”

‘What did grandpa show you? You were gone for only a few seconds but you seemed amazed by what you saw.”

Tony smiled and put his hand on Anthony’s shoulder. “That’s a story for another time. Let’s get back to work.”

Anthony couldn’t wait to start on the next watch. Now he had a goal, to learn as much as he could and solve the mystery of his family’s pocket watch.