The Time Keeper
The Time Keeper The Time Keeper crossed his arms, an ink design curling on his skin from under his sleeves. He was dressed all in black and forbidding in his stance. We ran from him, trying to find a path through the woods, but he was always behind us. He barely fit into his white vehicle with open sides, although he was tracking us with it. A voice pumped out from the vehicle's depths reminded us of our tardiness. The warnings were incessant and seemed to spread through every angle of the forest. Were we really late? And for what? Our feet scurried past a gnome staring at a pool of pestilent water. Green algae covered it, and his job was to keep guard day and night. He remained with his focus fixed on the surface and didn't look up as we passed. I slowed down to see what he could see in the water, and could have sworn I heard a scratchy voice say: "Jump in." I scanned the gnome's pointy face, but it was of stone. Still, I had the urge to swim into that pool, no ...