Daniel and the Time Changer

The dungeon smelled of dragon breath. Spider webs hung from rafters. A single bare light globe swung from a cord, casting giant dancing shadows on the walls. Water marks on the walls looked like tears running down a child’s face. Daniel liked to think of it as a dungeon, full of mysteries and adventures; a wonderful space to explore on cold, wet days like today’s visit to his grandparents. To his grandfather, it was just a cellar that he had not cleaned out since the previous owner moved out and left his stuff behind. One that his grandfather visited on rare occasions to store or find something. Daniel used an old rag to wipe the dust off his grandfather’s ancient desk and sat to do his homework. The hum of the adult conversation peppered with laughter floated down the stairs into the gloom of the windowless room. Feeling bored with homework, he looked around. Boxes stacked on dusty shelves beckoned him like the crooked, bent finger of an old wizard. He ran his hands over the cardboard cartons. Taking one down, he rummaged through old books and found nothing interesting. As he returned the box to the shelf, a little carved wooden boat at the back of the shelf caught his attention. He put the box down and reached for the boat, but it fell as he touched it and dropped behind the shelf, landing with a hollow thud. Running his fingers along the floor under the shelves did not retrieve it. He peered into the gloom at the back of the shelf and discovered a gap in the wall. His hand did not fit into the space and he made a hook on the end of a wire coat hanger to pull the little boat out. The hook connected with something loose and he pulled it up, dropping it several times before finally grasping hold of it as it surfaced. The object was not the little boat. It was a round, ornately engraved silver object, with a chain attached. He pressed a knob protruding from the top and jumped when the cover sprang open. He took a deep breath. An unusual watch face stared at him from one side of a hinged case. It reminded him of the stopwatch the sports masters used at school, but this one had many dials and several knobs. He wound a side knob forward, and the hands turned backwards. Daniel shook the watch and put his ear to it. No sound. “Perhaps the one at the bottom will make it tick,” he said aloud to himself, and wound the knob five turns. A tingling sensation ran up Daniel’s arm and swarmed through his body. As nausea rose, he closed his eyes. Colours exploded behind his closed eyelids. A powerful current from the watch gripped him and charged through his body so that he shook uncontrollably. His hand felt melded to it, and he could not let go. The tingling and shaking stopped. Nausea settled and the pocket watch in his hand felt hot. Darkness enveloped him when he opened his eyes. He dropped the watch. “What’s happened?” he whispered, then gasped, “the pocket watch!” Kneeling, he groped around on all fours, searching for it blindly. His hand connected with the metal case that had now become cold on the concrete floor. In the darkness, he stood up and shook his head, feeling like he was having a bad dream, then slipped the watch into his pocket. Raising his hands over his head, he waved them around, feeling for the dangling light that lit the room before the pocket watch took hold of him. He found nothing and slowed his breathing to clear his head. Taking a few tentative steps, he bumped up against something at thigh level, and felt his way across a flat surface. He wondered if this was his pop’s desk? Patting the surface in the darkness, he came into contact with objects he that were unfamiliar and he felt curious about what they may be. A long pointed thing pricked him and he sucked his finger. As he felt another item in the total darkness, he thought it may be a small bottle, and shaking it, discovered it contained a liquid. Feeling around, he picked up several sheets of paper and put all the things into his pockets, hoping they may help him discover more about this place. He extended his arms out in front of him, turned around, and shuffled forward. His hand touched a wall. In his mind, he mapped out where he thought the stairs would be, and groped along the wall. His foot hit something. Kneeling on the floor, he felt the first step on the staircase and ran his hand along it to the stair railing. He stood and his feet felt for each step until he reached the landing and slid his hands across the door to the doorknob. The door creaked slightly as he opened it. Light assaulted his eyes, and he blinked. As he looked around, he noticed that the passage was in the right place, but why was it wallpapered instead of painted? Weird, he thought. He took a few steps silently in the kitchen’s direction. This isn’t the right house, he thought. A floor board creaked. He stood still like a child playing ‘statues’. “Is that you, Elizabeth?” an unfamiliar woman’s voice called. Bile rose in his throat and his knees felt weak. He swallowed, his heart racing. Where am I? Shaking himself from the dazed question, he turned and quietly descended the stairs. In the light cast from the open door at the top of the stairs, he pulled out the pocket watch and turned the bottom knob forward five turns. Current surged through him, his teeth chattered and his body vibrated.