THE KROWKCOLC CHRONICLES
Jack pushed his chair back, slowly lifted his tired body from the seat and moved towards the office windows. He glanced downwards towards the street scape below, and noted the faint raindrops forming on the hermetically sealed window pains.
As he moved closer to the glass, he noticed the familiar shape of the church situated on the corner of Love Alley and Grope Street.The church of St Butler was consecrated during the 8th Century and had been rebuilt by the Normans just after the events of 1066. The Romanesque structure was built without a clock tower, but during the Gothic period and stone and marble tower was constructed to hold a monumental four-faced mechanical clock.
Jack looked at his wristwatch and noticed that the time was approaching 3.30 pm and time for his tea break. As he began to withdraw from the window, he inadvertently turned his head towards the clock in the tower as if to confirm the correct time. Stopping in his tracks he noted that the time showing on the church clock was a few minutes earlier than that on his watch, and after staring to get a closer look noticed that the hands of the clock appeared to be going in a reverse direction. Moving closer to the window and pressing his face against the rain speckled glass he strained his eyes and was astonished that the hands were indeed rotating in a reverse motion and turning backwards, as if to reverse time.
At first he thought that his eyes or mind were playing tricks on him and that he needed a strong mug of coffee to bring him back to his senses. Moving slowly away from the window, he passed his empty work station and ventured towards the partitioned area of the room used as a kitchen and eating area.
Plugging in the electric kettle he noticed the lights flicker on and off a couple of times and sat at a table waiting for the water in the kettle to boil.
His fingers fidgeted as he waited and continually viewed his wrist watch to check that time was running forward in an orderly manner. As the water reached boiling point he rose to his feet and grabbing a jar of instant coffee, placed two heaped spoonful's in to his mug. As he poured the water into his mug he trembled with the inconceivable thought that the dream he had had the previous evening was coming true.
Collapsing back on to the rigid and inflexible plastic chair he swigged the hot coffee and immediately spat the foaming liquid back across the room and his mouth blistered and burned a deep dark red. After waiting for the liquid to cool, Jack slowly drank what was left of his coffee and started back toward his desk.
The lights flickered once again and he soon became aware that he appeared to be the only person situated on that floor of his office block.
Even stranger, the carpet tiles were different and the walls and ceiling were decorated in a confusingly different fashion that he was familiar with .
As he progressed across the floor it was also apparent that most of the stud walls and freestanding screens that partitioned the floor in to separate offices and sections were missing, and that there were no desks, chairs, tables or work stations to be seen.
Now panicking, Jack ran to the window adjacent to the church clock tower and staring at the clock face could not believe his eyes, as the hands whirled backwards at an astonishing speed.
To be continued...….
Jack pushed his chair back, slowly lifted his tired body from the seat and moved towards the office windows. He glanced downwards towards the street scape below, and noted the faint raindrops forming on the hermetically sealed window pains.
As he moved closer to the glass, he noticed the familiar shape of the church situated on the corner of Love Alley and Grope Street.The church of St Butler was consecrated during the 8th Century and had been rebuilt by the Normans just after the events of 1066. The Romanesque structure was built without a clock tower, but during the Gothic period and stone and marble tower was constructed to hold a monumental four-faced mechanical clock.
Jack looked at his wristwatch and noticed that the time was approaching 3.30 pm and time for his tea break. As he began to withdraw from the window, he inadvertently turned his head towards the clock in the tower as if to confirm the correct time. Stopping in his tracks he noted that the time showing on the church clock was a few minutes earlier than that on his watch, and after staring to get a closer look noticed that the hands of the clock appeared to be going in a reverse direction. Moving closer to the window and pressing his face against the rain speckled glass he strained his eyes and was astonished that the hands were indeed rotating in a reverse motion and turning backwards, as if to reverse time.
At first he thought that his eyes or mind were playing tricks on him and that he needed a strong mug of coffee to bring him back to his senses. Moving slowly away from the window, he passed his empty work station and ventured towards the partitioned area of the room used as a kitchen and eating area.
Plugging in the electric kettle he noticed the lights flicker on and off a couple of times and sat at a table waiting for the water in the kettle to boil.
His fingers fidgeted as he waited and continually viewed his wrist watch to check that time was running forward in an orderly manner. As the water reached boiling point he rose to his feet and grabbing a jar of instant coffee, placed two heaped spoonful's in to his mug. As he poured the water into his mug he trembled with the inconceivable thought that the dream he had had the previous evening was coming true.
Collapsing back on to the rigid and inflexible plastic chair he swigged the hot coffee and immediately spat the foaming liquid back across the room and his mouth blistered and burned a deep dark red. After waiting for the liquid to cool, Jack slowly drank what was left of his coffee and started back toward his desk.
The lights flickered once again and he soon became aware that he appeared to be the only person situated on that floor of his office block.
Even stranger, the carpet tiles were different and the walls and ceiling were decorated in a confusingly different fashion that he was familiar with .
As he progressed across the floor it was also apparent that most of the stud walls and freestanding screens that partitioned the floor in to separate offices and sections were missing, and that there were no desks, chairs, tables or work stations to be seen.
Now panicking, Jack ran to the window adjacent to the church clock tower and staring at the clock face could not believe his eyes, as the hands whirled backwards at an astonishing speed.
To be continued...….
