The Alcove - Chapter 6 -

# #twitterfiction The Alcove - Chapter 6 -
# Stephen woke with a start the sunlight now streaming in through the window directly illuminating his retinas inducing a throbbing headache.
# "Was last night a dream?" checking his right side pants pocket. There it was. A wave of relief crashed over him. "I've still got the watch!"
# Glancing at the disheveled room and feeling the pounding in his head he knew last nights' trip cost him more than some much needed sleep.
# It was almost 10:30AM and he was expected to make an appearance in the main house before noon for sure, he set out starting his day.
# The entire family had gathered at the passing of his father, and the condolences were shared along with some tears, Stephen felt set free.
# He was not particularly close to his father, he guessed that no son had, especially with a busy father trying to make his way in this world.
# The past years especially they had drifted apart. Stephen moved to New York and had visited only once, right near the end.
# The awkward but necessary issue of dad's estate was to be resolved before immediate family headed home, he had been gone for three days.
# Stephen was the eldest yet his lack of a wife and family tended to alienate him from his two sisters Patricia, next oldest and baby Emily.
# They had both married early and now each had a large family, filling the main house. Stephen had felt excluded but now it didn't matter.
# Stephen had seen a glimpse into his future and it contained a long life, a loving wife and a peaceful passing. He headed to the main house.
# The chaos of the kids that swirled in the large estate house was the way he remembered his childhood, full of laughter and teasing.
# Patricia and Emily loved to cook since they could hold a spoon. All three got along great, the girls trying new recipes and Stephen tasting.
# This morning smell of waffles and fresh fruit wafted through the house, he helped as best he could with the berry-filled chaos and cleaning.
# At two they would meet with the lawyer to see about the state of affairs. Stephen knew Patricia loved the house and was looking to move in.
# Emily already had a great house as it was custom built (and eternally being renovated) by her husband a successful general contractor.
# Stephen's mom, devastated by her husband's death and vowed she would always live in the house, it would be too overwhelming for her.
# As it was Emily and Patricia would help her out with the laundry each week and do a bit of cleaning, She was getting older and more frail.
# The unofficial plan was for Patricia and her family to move in and help mom out around the house, Emily would also pop by and lend a hand.
# Stephen wanted to see the house stay in the family and was amiable with Patricia supporting Mom. He wanted one more look in the library.
# It was rumored that Grandpa had penned a journal of his escapades for the year he was gone. Stephen knew there was a lifetime in that book.
# The meeting came and went with a flurry of legalese and jargon. The deed to the house was set to their mother's name next up was Patricia's.
# There were still considerable holdings that Dad had never spoken of, that now Stephen was beginning to understand the origins of. Gramps.
# Every thing was left in his mom's name so she would have access to any funds she required, save the trusts set up for each of the kids.
# The sisters were honestly grateful that each of their children would be set for life. They had ever been poor, now they never would be.
# There was a large nest egg for Stephen as well but money can't replace people. Stephen had been on the verge of retirement for ten years.
# Returning to the house the sisters shared the news of the arrangements with their husbands. Then Patricia took Stephen aside for a word.
# "Stephen, I know you said you were ok with me moving into the house, there is always room for one more." she smiled genuinely.
# "I think I would just get in the way." he paused "I think I am going to follow in Gramp's footsteps and take a year"
# Patricia perked up "You are finally going to go? You have always talked about traveling around the globe! How exciting!"
# "I am finally going to do it!" he announced, "I am going around the world!" his eyes now sparkled in anticipation. "I am leaving in a week!"
# "And when you get back you know you are always welcome here! This is your house too!" She said and she meant it.
# Rejoining the group he shared the news of the new adventure with the others, the childrens' eyes grew wide at the thought of the adventure.

The Alcove - Chapter 5 -

# #twitterfiction The Alcove - Chapter 5 -
# Gramps or Sam as he was called by friends always had tall tales from faraway lands and adventures too fantastic to be true, like Egypt.
# Egypt and everything about the tombs and mummies seemed to be enough to fuel an adventuring grandson's wildest dreams for years.
# Sam, an average man in all respects - had somehow stumbled upon the secret to life: He had always fully lived every moment of his life.
# The Irony of fate is that you tend to get more of what you already have, and not something that you don't. This was much the same.
# Sam had told the story only once - he had traveled for four days to New York to meet his cousin who had sent word he was moving to America.
# When Sam arrived at to meet Francis, he also met a handful of illegals that had stowed away on the ship that Francis had befriended at sea.
# From what Sam had seen of other illegals he was hesitant at first to engage them, but after half a day he had warmed up to them like kin.
# For the entire summer the troupe was inseparable. Stories from across the sea light the fire of Sam's imagination and a fire in his belly.
# Reginald the lanky one with the unkempt hair, not for lack of combing, had a grandfather who lived in Chicago, and planned to visit him.
# Reginald was quirky with never a want in the world. He carried beneath his unruly locks a secret. Summer waned and their paths parted.
# As harvest time approached, Sam was needed back at home but the few roaring weeks he had spent in the city had felt like a lifetime.
# Francis came to stay with Sam - inseparable by day, spending their nights spinning adventure stories of daring adventure by lantern light.
# The harvest came and went, and the two set out on adventure whenever they could, taking numerous trips to the big city with wide eyes.
# Sam was celebrating yet another birthday in the city with his cousin, when to his utmost surprise he was met by Reginald from the troupe.
# The reunion celebration that ensued was never mentioned only that Reginald handed Sam a handkerchief and in it was the enchanted watch.
# Sam clearly remembered the first time he saw it, a moment burned into his mind. He remembers unwrapping it, the key to living in the moment.
# Reginald said that he had one too. His Grandfather was making these watches. Reginald did not know how. Then the fun began.
# Francis also received a watch and the three traveled through dimension to the place where they were kings of time itself.
# In a city with millions of people, pranks were endless, and benefits plentiful. Within a span of what would have been a week they were rich.
# It started innocently enough with a meal or two, then picking pockets of the mannequins around them - they tried to never take too much.
# Francis was quite the ladies' man and would plant a juicy wet one on any pretty face he came across. Sam showed the most restraint.
# Reginald was infinitely clever with elaborate setups that ultimately ended with an upturned bucket of water on some poor chap's head.
# They were unstoppable.
# The "reentry" was a vomit inducing world war two preview - that seemed to always end the same. Dead in a muddy trench body aching. So grim.
# Reginald's grandfather would only share the fact that their family had been making these devices for generations in various forms forever.
# Wanting to put their new power to "good use" Reginald ever the mastermind - orchestrated a bank heist. This was big time!
# Orchestrated may be too good of a word - the three men touched their watches, walked in when the vault was open and took what they needed.
# Reginald still took full credit for the success and had already scouted a hiding place for the loot. The world was theirs. The World!
# They had spent around a month on the other side and Francis was suffering from the traumatic images that he saw on reentry. Too much death.
# Reginald saw that Francis was not handling the new power well. He seemed to be less and less engaged, the loot was divided. Francis left.
# Francis was never quite right after that. He lived well off the spoils but he never married and lived out his days on the family farm.
# Sam fearing the same fate began to regulate his own use of the power. "I don't want to see the horrors of my own death anymore." he thought.
# The sense of adventure was too large to ignore. He vowed he would travel the world for a year and only use the watch to "pay" for the trip.
# And Travel he did, Sam "jumped" on a steamer set for Europe and slept for most of the two weeks, constantly vigilant of pick pockets.
# He had plan to travel the world with Reginald but Reg had disappeared one day and never came back.
# Sam wondered what would happen if you died on the other side.
# He left a note for Reginald in the stash of loot. He would be sure to find it there. Reginald was constantly in the stash - adding to it.
# The travel had landed Sam with thousands of stories, hundreds of memories. He then found his way home where he courted his old school flame.
# She was feisty, with quick wits and a youthful look about her - or was he just looking older? They set out to spend their lives together.

The Alcove - Chapter 4 -

# #twitterfiction The Alcove - Chapter 4 -
# Turning the unique time piece over in his hand a knot of tension rose within, he had never seen Gramps use this device, nor used it himself.
# Stephen's dad had gone ballistic and took the watch from him and hid it away. Gramps was just joking right? This was just a novelty watch.
# How could a novelty watch still be ticking after years? How had he resisted his obsession till the death of his father three days prior?
# Ever since he first saw that watch Stephen doubted it's godlike power to stop time. but the evidence was plain, his grandfather died young.
# Gramps did die young, he had all the vim and vigor of a man half his age, and wisdom beyond a man twice his years. And now his dad too.
# He was the only man in the family left, with one sister, no uncles or children the bloodline would end with him. The realization landed.
# Stephen felt anxious, but didn't want to put the world on hold to trudge through rain. What of visions of your life without stopping time?
# He felt scared to sleep with such a valued object not locked up safe, he had never felt more vulnerable, "No one even knows." he said aloud.
# In the darkness of the room he realized the irrational fear was stifling and he felt the paranoia rising. Not wanting to drown, he did it.
# Closing his eyes he gently pulled the winding knob on the watch, and waited...silence. The slits of his eyes slowly opened, he looked down.
# The hands ominously had snapped to high noon and were now rotating like a normal watch, he did a double take - it must be like a stopwatch.
# Looking around everything was just as it had been, catching the light of the moon he saw the droplets of rain hanging in the air outside.
# "Gramps! It Works!" He half expected to see his grandfather as the normal took on the surreal. He threw on his clothes and slicker and left.
# Running through the drops, he was a child going swimming for the first time, soaked to the bone and smiling, this is living in the moment!
# There were so many things he wanted to test and try, how did this world work? Were there other people here? He realized he should "get back"
# Returning to the room drenched for the second time that night, he collapsed into the chair at the table and slowly drew out his prize.
# He focused on the movement and pressed the winding knob, the hands paused, he froze, then they reversed to their usual yet, unnatural orbit.
# Stephen had enjoyed time and space all to himself for a full 25 minutes, and he felt back to normal, once the hands had switched direction.
# Ominously the hands counted down the moments till midnight and the rejoining of the others as Stephen would rejoin time itself once again.
# Everything jarred out of focus and Stephen struggled to regain the ability to discern what lay before him. He was unable to breathe. Panic.
# And as quickly as he realized his lack of breath, it returned, his eyes began adjusting to the brightness and skin felt electric.
# There was a beautiful sunset before him, his body was translucent, he was unable to move or touch anything, suspended, helpless, weightless.
# He was rushed forward, compelled by a force that moved quickly with instant acceleration. Rushing full speed closer and closer to a house.
# Full stop. He had traveled 20 miles from the top of a nearby peak to the porch of a humble sea side cabin in an instant. Time froze.
# Forced into his view was an old man he instantly recognized as an older version of himself, he was not alone. She was beside him in silence.
# Holding hands the two looked out over the water toward the receding sun as it danced on the horizon. Fixated on their faces he sensed peace.
# She had a face he did not know but instantly trusted, the older version of himself looked to be late seventies, she looked about the same.
# Desperately, he tried to speak to his older self, but could not break the silence, his voice was stricken from him. He was only a spectator.
# Stephen was watching the moments he would now never experience. These would have been the last 25 minutes of his life. They played out.
# Utter tranquility, a peace he had never experienced washed over them with each of the crashing waves on the shore. He tightened his grip.
# She tightened back. More tension, with force. She looked over concerned but resigned. He closed his eyes, opening them to meet her gaze.
# Stephen was watching himself die. Fighting the pain, his aged frame stiffened. Her loving look offered help, it was waved off. Heart attack.
# Gently brushing back his hair, their eyes locked in an embrace a lifetime long, He slowly let go of this life and she began to weep quietly.
# Stephen felt such a deep connection to this woman, he felt at ease. Then the question hit him - who was this woman? How did they meet? when?
# She wiped the sweat from his brow, he let go his final breath. Stephen was instantly pulling back to the perch on the hilltop. Focus lost.
# The choking sensation returned, as did the vague shapes of the room. Checking the watch it read midnight and kept counting down the hours.
# The future that was shown to him had been his future before he had used the watch. The price for using it:That was not his future anymore.
# His mind exhausted and invigorated, horrified and confused, Stephen tried to sleep. Overwhelmed, over stimulated he willed himself to sleep.

The Alcove - Chapter 3 -

# #twitterfiction The Alcove - Chapter 3 -
# His first memory was of his Grandfather, he was a very wild child and everyone commented on how much they were alike. Two peas in a pod.
# The estate was sprawling and Stephen would spend most of his time just adventuring about, catching frogs or crickets and building forts.
# His Grandpa would always encourage him to be more adventurous than either of his parents wanted him to be. Grandpa had a secret.
# Stephen and his "Gramps" would spend all afternoon staring at the clouds, naming the pictures the sky drew. These memories were fond.
# The first time Stephen had noticed there was something "different" about Gramps was when he was 10, memorable as it was on his birthday.
# When trying to figure out the riddle of how much older Gramps was, Stephen noticed that he looked a fair bit older than his Grandmother.
# Ever one to be mannerly he didn't mention it at the time, but stored the thought for later, he solved the riddle and blew out the candles.
# Stephen had asked Gramps thousands of questions as they would wander the grounds, but there was one growing question he dared not ask.
# His father away on business more than half the year, his grandparents were as much in charge as mom, and this sat well with Stephen.
# He liked the recklessness his Grandfather had in his eyes and his gentle way. Father was the polar opposite, focusing the business of life.
# One week before graduation, he received a very special gift from his Grandfather, not wrapped in a box, but simply folded in a handkerchief.
# How can the best day of your life also be the worst?
# Stephen held the pocket watch in his hands and had thanked Gramps with a huge hug. "A good watch is the mark of a good man" Gramps said.
# Gramps had taken Stephen aside to explain the new responsibilities that accompanied the timepiece, they seemed fantastical.
# "The first thing to note" said Gramps as if it were rehearsed, "is the hands move opposite of common watches, this is no common watch."
# Stephen had already noticed, but played along and pretended to rediscover the movement, looking to his Grandfather to continue.
# He had thought it a gag or a watchmaker's mistake! Why would anyone create a watch that ran backward? He sensed Gramps holding back a story.
# "Secondly" Gramps continued "Is that this watch never needs to be wound!" the look on Stephen's face was priceless.
# "Never?" Stephen examined the watch and moved to test the theory.
# Gramps snatched it out of his hand before he could blink and looked into his eyes with a somber glare. "let me finish!" he blurted out.
# Stephen was taken aback and felt sheepish. Gramps instantly gave him a smile that let him know everything was good, but he needed to listen.
# Holding up the timepiece, he looked Stephen in the eye and pointed "To wind this watch press this button."he blinked "then the hands stop."
# He leaned in "If the hands of this watch stop, Time will stand still for all but you."
# Stephen laughed, then caught the gaze of his elder. He must be joking! The gaze was steady. He flashed back to his birthday and the candles.
# "What are you saying Gramps? That this watch can stop time?" The fire in his eyes now glowed red hot as he raised an eyebrow. "Yes" he said.
# "There is one catch" his tone now deathly serious "for each moment you stop time for others you must live it twice!"
# "Is that what happened to you?" Stephen only realized after he had said it that he shouldn't have. He needed to know.
# "Yes, that is why I am passing this on to you, I have traveled the world, touched the pyramids, I have seen all I have ever wanted to see."
# "You have been to the pyramids? How? When?" Stephen's mind raced as a wave of a thousand questions spilled out.
# "I will answer those later" Gramps calmed him "There is a consequence for stopping time. You must live it twice over." what did that mean?
# "Twice over?" Stephen was unable to fathom what was being said, his mind still wandering to exotic locals with scorpions and sphinx.
# "If you stop the watch you find all those around you frozen. you are alone with your thoughts, for the better or for the worse."
# Gramps continued "You will have run of the earth, go where you will, eat what you wish, borrow what you need, then reset the watch..."
# He paused "...once the watch is reset you see a vision of your life. if the watch was stopped for an hour your vision will last an hour..."
# He swallowed hard "...your vision will be of the last hour of your life as it would have been had you not stopped time."

The Alcove - Chapter 2 -

# #twitterfiction The Alcove - Chapter 2 -
# Removing his prize he ran through the rain toward the rear entrance to the servant's quarters, he had to get out of the blowing weather.
# As he sprinted to shelter, his mind flashed back to his youth, carefree and light - filled with delight at the hidden knowledge of the wall.
# The old estate no doubt had many trinkets and childhood treasures stowed and long since forgotten in the multitude of hiding places within.
# The sounds of Stephen's movements were obscured by the weather that battered the swaying trees and reflected off the staunch buildings.
# Closing the door behind him he moved to the table and placed his treasure in the center of the table. Forty three years was a long time.
# Stephen's fingers trembled as he popped the lid off of the tin. The ticking now drown out the sound of the storm outside, it was still here!
# The pocket watch had been handed down from his grandfather, to his father, and now it was his. He had waited till his dad had passed.
# His father had warned him that if he were to use it too soon he would face the wrath that only those tiny hands had wreaked upon his dad.
# Grandpa had been a positive man, minding his own business and constantly reminding others mind theirs. So many fond memories, now it's mine.
# Stephen marveled at the hands as they spun with perfect precision. The finish was untarnished with age as the tiny hands moved backward.
# The curse of the thing was obscured by it's overwhelming beauty, he felt drawn to it, his gaze unwavering. It was beautiful, he knew better.
# He felt compelled to wind it out of sheer habit, his father had passed the instruction down to him in the most somber of tones:
# "This pocket watch NEVER needs to be wound, stopping the hands of this watch will stop time itself, it caused my father nothing but pain."
# Father always kept the watch hidden, and when grandpa died father vowed it would not be used again during his lifetime.
# Stephen swore an oath, an oath he had kept.
# Until tonight.
# Mere mention of the watch made father livid with righteous indignation "Some things should not be tampered with by mortals!" he would say.
# Stephen had grieved his father's passing, and returned to his childhood home that now felt empty, cavernous, cold and quiet. Too quiet.
# There would have been no sound at all save the ticking of the watch his focus loosened and he realized he was still in full rain garb.
# Placing the watch in his pocket he took off his hooded poncho and retired to his bed his mind racing with possibility. He gazed at it again.

The Alcove - Chapter 1 -

# #twitterfiction The Alcove - Chapter 1 -
# - Original Twitter Fiction by Jay Martens -
# It was a dark and stormy night and all had headed for slumber save the curmudgeonly old man who wrestled with his thoughts. Tonight it goes.
# slowly the clouds enshrouded the moon on it's leisurely journey to the horizon, appearing much larger than the sun its light glistened .
# The rhythm of the rain lulled Stephen's eyelids closed, he fought to stay alert and continue his exploration of the garden.
# 'Tonight is the last chance I have to rid myself of this burden once and for all.' he thought as he continued on. Tonight it goes.
# the mud now sloshed above his shoeline and invaded the space between his toes, but he didn't notice the prize he hunted consumed his mind.
# it had been years since he had visited this site and the landscape seemed different, the rain didn't help as the downpour obscured his view.
# The estate had always remained in the family and could be traced back eight generations, his childhood had played out on this very land.
# Stephen sensed he was near it, the terrain flooding back into his memory, parting the brush along the wall he groped for a loose brick.
# Thunder rolled in the distance as his wrinkled fingers stopped dead, he leaned in closer blocking out the sound of the rain. could it be?
# The ticking was unmistakable - 'how many years had it been?' he knew it was 43 years, 43 long years. he had envisioned this day many times.
# Scanning the brush around him Stephen looked for a rock or something hard to reopen the decades old vault. grabbing a rock he bashed the wall

Starting the Journey

I had the idea to write a novel using Twitter.

This is the result of that idea.

After a chapter is completed I will reorder the tweets and post them here. I don't have any external notes or outlines, just winging it.

I hope you enjoy,
Jay Mart