An Ill Wind Blows...

MOTE Prompt Response

Vanessa stepped out of the house and set the large portmanteau on the front porch. Before closing and locking the front door, she checked the time on the large grandfather clock gracing the front hallway. It struck three o’clock as she looked at it.

“Perfect. I have enough time to stop for a pastry on the way to the airship station,” she murmured to the small dog sitting at her feet. House secured, Vanessa picked up the portmanteau and the leash for the dog and set off down the street. Dark clouds raced across the sky, and a strong wind blew leaves and trash down the road. The little dog, Poppy, pressed against Vanessa’s ankles, whining as it gazed up at the sky.

“What on earth is going on, Poppy?” Vanessa asked the little dog. “And why are you being so clingy?”

A booming thunderclap shattered the air. Poppy yelped and tried to jump into Vanessa’s arms.

“My goodness! That certainly was loud. All right, all right. Give me a minute to get my umbrella out. Vanessa wrestled with an external pocket on the portmanteau and produced a telescoping umbrella. It wasn’t raining, but the air certainly had that feeling of an impending downpour. Juggling dog, portmanteau, and umbrella, Vanessa set off once again, the wind pulling and grabbing at the umbrella.

“Will you truly not walk, Poppy?” Vanessa pleaded with the dog. Poppy’s response was to push further into Vanessa’s arm. Worried by the dog’s behavior, Vanessa tucked Poppy more securely into her arms and lengthened her stride. She decided she’d get her pastry once she got to the airship station. Instinct was telling her not to be out on the street any longer than necessary.

Vanessa and Poppy made it to the station without any untoward adventures along the way, other than the wind picking up, forcing Vanessa to put the umbrella away as it was at risk of turning inside out. It was a relief to step into the station and close the door behind her. She hadn’t realized how strong the wind was until she was no longer fighting it. Glancing up at the large clock on the wall over the doors leading to the loading platforms for the airships, Vanessa saw that she had enough time to get her pastry – it wouldn’t be as good as a pastry from Blackwood’s Bakery, but it would do – from the shop in the station as her flight didn’t leave until four o’clock.

Sitting at a table in the corner of the station next to the bakery shop, Vanessa watched passengers, locals, and staff come and go while sharing her croissant with Poppy. At a quarter before four, she stood up and gathering her things, made her way to the door leading to Loading Platform No. 4. Vanessa was the third person in line. She’d learned over the years that she liked to be in the first ten people to board, preferably in the first five, as that allowed her to find the seat most to her liking. She did wish that the airship companies would come up with a scheme for assigning seats at the time one purchased a ticket, but that didn’t appear to be a priority for them.

Just a couple minutes after she got on line, Vanessa felt a lurch, as if the world had moved a few inches to the side. There was a crackle through the announcement speakers, but then they went silent. She glanced up at the enormous clock on the wall and saw that it had stopped at precisely 3:47 PM. Puzzled, she pulled out her own pocket watched and looked at it. Her eyes returned to the clock on the wall. It was still stopped. Her pocket watch was still running.

Vanessa’s heart beat rapidly. She gazed around the airship station. Nobody was moving except for her and Poppy. Poppy was whining and once again trying to climb Vanessa’s leg. Absently, still staring around the station, Vanessa bent to pick up Poppy. Her gut was screaming at her to leave the station, but she had felt so uncomfortable outside, she was reluctant to leave the relative safety of four walls and a roof.

As a compromise to her agitated gut, Vanessa stepped over to one of the windows looking out on the street. Nothing was moving. People, cars, trolleys were all frozen in place. The clock on the tower on the other side of the square had stopped at 3:47PM as well. She pulled her pocket watch out once again. Still running.

“You know, Poppy, I don’t like this. I don’t like it one bit,” Vanessa said into the dog’s fur. Poppy whined and tried to hide her head in Vanessa’s elbow. “I know, I know. This is weird. What was that lurch… an earthquake? And why is my watch still running when everything else appears to have stopped? It reminds me of what Uncle Corky was working on. What did he call it? A time slip? I wish he was still here. He’d be able to explain things.”

Not sure what was going on, but certain she didn’t want to stay in the airship station, Vanessa decided to risk walking back to the house. At least there she had the means to defend herself from things both mundane and arcane.

She stepped out of the main station door and gasped when she saw a man walking toward her. He got within a few hundred feet when she recognized him.

“Uncle Corky!”

******

This week’s MOTE challenge was issued by Parrish Baker: All the clocks in the city stopped at precisely 3:47 PM, except for one. My prompt went to Leigh Kimmel. Head on over to More Odds Than Ends to see what everybody came up with. If you’re in the mood, pick up a spare for yourself and see where it takes you!