Daily Flash Fiction Challenge

I Haven't Got All Day.

The old clockmaker's eyes were hidden beneath crinkled lids. His shop was filled with the tick-tock melody of a hundred timepieces, each with a rhythm of its own.

"Ah, you're finally here," he muttered, looking up from his workbench. A curious-looking clock, unlike anything I'd ever seen before, lay in parts across the surface.

"I haven't got all day," he grumbled, gesturing me towards the open chair. He took a deep breath, gripping a tiny cog. His hands, although wrinkled with age, were surprisingly steady.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing towards the contraption.

"This, my dear, is not just a clock," he said, a sly smile playing on his lips. "It's a reminder of the fleeting nature of time. It's a plea, begging us to seize every moment. It ticks not in hours, minutes, or seconds... but in moments we lose."

With a final adjustment, he placed the cog into the contraption, and it sprung to life, a soft rhythm joining the symphony of time around us.

"Remember," he said, handing me the clock. Its unique rhythm was a heartbeat amongst metronomes. "I haven't got all day, neither do you. Make each tick count."

And with that, I left the shop, the heartbeat of the clock in my hand reminding me of the precious, limited nature of time.