Chapter 3 The Timepiece

Chapter Three: The Timepiece

Tobias stepped carefully around the counter and opened a velvet-lined drawer built into the base of a large oak workbench. Inside, nestled between brass tools and bits of glass, lay a watch unlike any Elena had ever seen.

It gleamed faintly, even in the dusty light-silver with delicate filigree carved into its casing. The face was glass, but no numbers marked its edges. Instead, there were three small dials spinning silently beneath a single slender hand that pulsed like a heartbeat. It looked more like a compass than a timepiece, alive in some quiet way.

Tobias lifted it gently and placed it in her hands.

"This isn't just a watch," he said. "It doesn't tell the time-it tells a time."

Elena turned it over, confused. "What does that mean?"

"It finds a moment you've lost. Or one that's been waiting for you."

The weight of the watch was strange-not heavy, but important, like it carried something more than gears and springs.

"I made it for someone long ago. Someone who needed to look back... just once."

Elena looked up at him, and something in his eyes made her ask, "Why are you giving it to me?"

Tobias didn't answer. Not with words.

He only whispered, "Because time remembers."