Making Plans

Continued from yesterday:

"Well," Danos said, "I don't think he will be bothering us again."

Makos let out a nervous chuckle. Danos followed suit. Soon, respective states of shock diffused into raucous laughter. When it died down at last, Danos caught his breath and turned to regard the light brown clock. "What are we going to do?"

Makos sat up from where he had fallen on the grass and placed his forearms over his knees. He stared at the carvings on it, then replied. "What can we do? Father is a grandfather clock now."

"A father clock." Danos corrected.

"Yeah. I guess so." Makos agreed.

Danos rubbed his chin. "I don't know. Do you really think it's him?"

Makos nodded vigorously. "I heard him yell through the glass before it fixed itself."

"Hmm." Danos crossed his arms. "I have no ideas."

"Me neither." Makos added, just before a cold drop of rain landed right on the tip of his nose. He glanced up at the black sky speckled with stars, and a slight breeze rustled through his hair.

Danos followed his gaze. "I suppose for starters, we better bring him inside, just in case."

---------------

A couple of hours later, the clock rested upright and undamaged in the corner of the den a few feet away from the fireplace. The boys sat on a green and brown woven rug before a toasty flame. Both were soaked and shivering and both studied the clock as it softly ticked and tocked away.

That sound accompanied by a heavy rainfall thumping on the roof shingles seemed to hypnotize the younger boy into a doze. His brother's voice shook him back to consciousness.

"We can try going into town and asking if anyone knows who that man was." Makos watched Danos' expressions in the flickering firelight as he talked. "There has to be someone who knows how to undo this."

Continued tomorrow.