Time Is A Machine

“Here you go,” the mage passed to the child a strange material, during the transfer she found that the material mysteriously filtered though her outstretched fingers, this was rather unexpected as she had judged the material to be of solid nature.
Swiftly she cupped her hands and saved it within seconds from spilling upon the floor.
It was a peculiar substance, one of which she had not encountered before, it seemed metallic and shiny, deceiving the senses into the perspective of being a solid state. When in fact it was more of a fluid object, more liquid in composition. She detected a slight whirring noise being emitted from the substance, it was like breathing, but yet it seemed mechanical, maybe it was infested with mechanical wasps. She felt a strange sensation standing there holding this humming enigma, pondering its internal mechanisms.

The mage observed her curious gaze, her cravings for reason, he shattered the still silence.
“That what you are holding is the fabric of eternity, a fragment of time.”
The child appeared stunned and rubbed her eyes in mistrust of her vision.
“Look closer my child, and tell me what you see within.”
Obediently he drew the material at eye level, but as she did there was a mechanical squeal, an ear shattering yelp. The harsh noises that erupted from startled and shook the young one who pushed it away, the sounds ceased.
“What was that?” She questioned anxiously her hands trembled with the aftermath of the shock, “It sounded like a crash, did I break it?”

The mage grinned at the small child’s explanation for the incident.
“Ahh… no, no, not at all,” he added with a tone of knowledge, it is merely how time reacts to the human soul,”
She wore a puzzled expression, “But why? Why is this, sir?”
“Lets place this in elementary terms” he scanned the Childs vacant expression and prepared a simple story that even the naivety of childhood could understand. “Think of the seasons, how winter passes and dies to give birth to spring, and from this glorious summer emerges and eventually wilts in the summer haze. The never-ending cycle continues, am I right?”
The child nodded in understanding, he continued “is it true that in this life we pass though the seasons? The seasons are a measure of time and we always will pass though time.”
“Yes, sir” she answered attentively, eager for the conclusion.
“Have you observed that no matter what humankind does it always flows though time? He paused “well what you just witnessed that very minute was times reaction to the human sprit, if man goes against time or tries to manipulate it, it refuses and it grinds against the human sprit, in truth time itself is a machine and no living being can modify it, it is simply not compatible, man must be driven by time in order to exist, at least physically.”
The child stood there awestruck at the extraordinary concept, staring at the material she feverishly managed to mutter the words, “wow, that’s so amazing…”

“Yes it is rather” he answered. The answer to what she held, fuelled her zest for knowledge, “what would happened if we where to break the machine?”
The mage eyed the child with a heavy expression that made her feel as though she has questioned too deeply and wandered into a forbidden subject.
After a long moment he spoke once again this time slowly, quietly in an almost a whisper… “In truth, nobody knows, the universe could perish, all living things require time to grow and to live don’t they? Or could spend forever in a state of suspended animation” The young girl shuddered as images of cold, motionless human statures crept though her maturing mind. Maybe even nothing at all, I mean there is no such man or creature that truly knows? All I can truly say is that mustn’t temper with the mechanisms of eternity,” he paused and stared thoughtfully out in to nothingness.
He began again, still staring into the beyond but this time a bleak, sombre tone dominated his voice “Time, is like a tangled ball of string with both ends tied as one, it is endless and is infinite in its complexity. But sweet child, you have nothing to fear of time or life, for there is no living creature that is an enemy to man than himself.”