-174 Hours 29 Minutes 58 Seconds

The fat storekeeper ran after the two kids who had stolen some of his wares as fast as he could. The two kids were holding two rump steaks and a string of sausages were wrapped around their neck like scarves.

‘Stop you little fucks!’

The man wheezed as he rounded a corner following the kids into an alley. As he ran down the alley towards the kids who had slipped inside of a door, I swung down from the roof and kneed him in his gut.

He fell to the ground gasping and I ran for it before he could recover.

‘Little… sh… its…’

The man panted standing up and coming after me. I stopped by a door that had some mattresses piled up opposite and went inside. The storekeeper ran after me and through open the door. He barely had time to notice the length of wood hanging from the ceiling and the five small kids pulling it back before they let it go and he was hit by the improvised battering ram.

The man was blown out of the building, hitting the mattresses behind him he slumped to the ground unconscious.

I turned around to look at my partners in crime.

‘Well down gentleman and gentle-not-men. We can have meat tonight.’

The kids cheered brightly and I smiled. It was rare that I found myself wishing these times would never end but that was probably one of them.

‘We’re back!’ I called as the Strike Team returned to the abandoned sporting complex that was currently our home.

We were street kids, all of us had special circumstances and were unable to fend for ourselves alone. At first it had just been me and Emily, however over time, more and more kids started following us.

I was the oldest person there, a little over seventeen years old. The next oldest was fourteen, then there was a whole bunch of them between the ages of thirteen and four. Over all there was probably twenty of us.

‘Hiii!’

With a squeak, Emily ran over and jumped into my arms. She hadn’t learned how to speak yet even though she was about eight years old. She was small for her age and looked like a doll, long black hair flowed down her face and intelligent blue eyes stared between her bangs.

It was pretty difficult to tell we were actually brother and sister at first glance, the only thing we really had in common was our eye and hair colour.

‘Guess what, we got meat!’

One boy was saying with pride.

‘Yeah a whole bunch of it!’

‘Echo says we can have a party tonight!’

‘A party? Yay!’

The younger kids started up a chant of ‘Party! Party!’ Emily hid herself behind me and whimpered. She wasn’t good at dealing with enthusiasm.

‘All of you settle down!’

A sharp faced young women who was dressed in the ragged remains of a business suit, a pair of broken glasses perched on her face walked towards us. That was the fourteen year old I mentioned before, Wendy. She had taken it upon itself to be a mother figure and keep the children in line. Apparently I was included in that as well.

‘Echo! Who said we can throw a party?’

She had a dangerous glint in her eyes that made me break out in sweat.

‘Ah… you know… ah… well see we got all this meat and…’

‘Wouldn’t it be better to ration it properly over the next week then blow it all in one night?’

Talk about a mood killer. Though I guess she did have a point. There were days we had to go without food or were forced to eat what we could find in the garbage.

‘What if today was a special occasion? Then could we?’

Wendy glowered at me. She was probably right about me being a kid. When I got something into my mind I wanted to do it no matter how short sighted or dangerous or stupid it was. She knew that as soon as I started ‘negotiating’ I wouldn’t stop until I got my way.

‘Hah… Fine, what’s the occasion?’

‘Today just happens to be…’

I didn’t think this far… What was I supposed to say? Then I vaguely remembered I book I’d read when I was young. About people who threw parties all year, celebrating…

‘Today just happens to be everybody’s Unbirthday!’

‘Eh?’

I had expected Wendy took look a bit shocked, but how come everyone else was looking at me funny.

‘So… you’re celebrating the day we’ll all die?’

Wendy asked, with a horrified expression.

‘Check on the expiration date of that meat.’

Wendy whispered to one of the kids who ran off to do just that.

‘NO! I don’t mean like that! Look, your birthday comes around just once a year right? Well an Unbirthday is all the days of the year that aren’t your birthday. I mean, why do we celebrate every year as though it is important? Surely every day we manage to see is in itself a small miracle and worth celebrating.’

‘Sooo… You intend to celebrate every day?’

‘No. I just coincidentally decided to celebrate today. It had nothing to do with procuring meat.’

With a sigh Wendy dropped the issue and walked off.

The next day I snuck out early and headed out to my job. Despite what the kids thought, I couldn’t steal enough food for them to eat so I had a small job working at a general hospital as a receptionist. It didn’t really pay too well, but I was allowed to read the medical textbooks there, doing so had allowed me to treat the day to day injuries the kids got like a professional.

At that moment, I was sitting with a dictionary between my legs and a book on cancer open in front of me when I was hit on the back of the head.

‘Doctor?’

The Doctor was a tall blonde hair man in his mid-thirties. Doctor Seymour had been the one who had pushed through my employment when I explained to him my circumstances. He sometimes took time out of his day to give me some practice performing surgery on non-emergency or delicate patients. Of course he’d probably lose his job if anyone found out, but he didn’t seem to care. In fact he was probably the only Doctor I knew who smoked while performing surgery.

‘So, yeah. I’ve got to duck out early today, so might as well close up shop. I’ll pay you for the full day and everything.’

‘Eh?’

‘Come on out. Shoo, shoo!’

Doctor Seymour pushed me out onto the street and I stood there for a few seconds wondering what had happened.

Inside, Seymour sighed and lit a cigarette. Breathing in deeply he exhaled and glared at the people that had walked in through the back door.

‘You really need to give me more notice before busting in here like that.’

A woman with long white hair and blood red lips smiled coldly.

‘We are free to do as we please, Doctor. Do not forget who it is that is granting you this little Surgery.’

‘Right, right. No need to get your knickers in a knot.’

Standing up Seymour walked over to the small shivering child standing between the two men in black. Though rather than Men in Black the movies, they looked more like they belonged to a Men in Black Bodybuilders Association. Seymour felt he was the better man here since he didn’t make a penis joke.

‘So, this girls the next one huh?’

A doll like face. Flowing black hair. Deep, intelligent blue eyes.

‘Are you ready to become the new Eve?’

My blood was frozen. The kids were lying on the ground groaning and crying. Wendy was out cold on the floor, a line of red trickling from her crushed nose. I could hear my heart beating loudly in my ears. I knew it already. I could feel that presence missing like one of my limbs had been torn off.

‘Where’s Emily?’

‘Fey ook er.’

Wendy whispered awkwardly.

‘Fed fey ver pakingf er oo ee fospital.’

I stalked towards the small metal shelf at the back of the room. I picked up a wrapped bundle and opened it. Inside was a golden pocket watch. My finger hovered awkwardly over the catch that would open it.

‘Father, would you hurry up and get rid of that stupid thing.’

He peeked through the crack in the door. Inside was an enormous library. His father was talking to his grandfather. No they were arguing. His father was shouting and gesturing at an old grandfather clock sitting against one wall. Its face was shattered and the pendulum inside kept getting stuck.

‘I will not Dennis. That clock is older than my father, god rest his soul.’

‘It’s broken and useless! Get rid of it!’

‘Is that how you see the world, Dennis? Things that are broken should be abandoned. What about your daughter? Are you going to abandon her as well? Just because she can’t talk?’

‘That will be my decision to make! You will have no say in this, Father!’

Grandfather stood up, his face filled with uncontrollably rage.

‘I am not your father! I would never raise a son as filthy as you!’

Father turned around and left. He hid behind a vase as Father went pass then looked back inside the room. Grandfather was staring absentmindedly at the clock.

‘Sorry you had to see that, Echo. Come in.’

Echo smiled. Father was scum, he was more than aware of that. However he felt nothing for Grandfather except affection. He seemed to love the boy as the son he wished he’d had. Echo ran in and jumped into his lap. He smiled happily and stroked Echo’s head.

‘Grandpa?’

‘Yes, Echo?’

‘Why do you like that clock so much? I disagree with father about throwing it away, but surely you could pay to have it fixed?’

‘Echo, what do you see when you gaze at that clock.’

Echo studied the clock intently before pursing his lips and murmuring sheepishly, ‘I only see a broken clock.’

‘Hmm… You know what I see?’

Echo shook his head as he looked up, perhaps trying to see what was reflected in the old man’s eyes.

‘I see possibilities.’

When Echo decided to take Emily and run away from home, his grandfather caught them just as they were leaving. Echo stared coldly at the kind old man. Getting Emily away was more important. Even if he had to push Grandfather over he had to ensure Emily’s escape.

‘I imagine it will be cold outside so I got you both sweaters.’

He passed Echo two sweaters that looked handmade and then gave him a small envelope filled with money.

‘That should see you safe for the next few months. And, finally Echo, I have a gift for you.’

A pocket watch was dropped in the boy’s hand. When he went to open it his Grandfather covered his hand with his own.

‘Only open it when the world you are building is being threatened.’

‘Then what is it?’

Grandfather smiled.

‘It is your possibilities. Try not to let them escape.’

‘My… possibilities?’

This would be the first time I opened this broken clock. What could it do to help me? Grandfather wouldn’t have given it to me and told me to use it only in emergencies if it did nothing. Perhaps it was actually a radio and I could use it to contact someone.

Taking a deep breath. I opened the watch.

It was eleven o’clock in the morning.

The clock showed the time 06:29:58.

‘Hoo! Looks like we might have a winner here. The subject is stabilising.’

Doctor Seymour said as the heart rate monitor connected to the doll like girl settled down.

‘Continue with the operations then Doctor.’

The woman said with a smirk.

‘The project must advance.’

‘Right, right.’

The Doctor stopped cocking his head.

‘Do you hear that?’

‘Hear what?’

‘……….’

‘…………………….’

‘I… don’t know. I thought I heard a… thumping.’

The words were barely out of his mouth when the door of the operating room was blown open. The metal doors were blown off their hinges and quickly devoured by rolling flames. However the flames were unnatural. Despite Doctor Seymour being almost directly in front of them he wasn’t getting burned. In fact the flames almost seemed to be sucked back into the scaled arm of the person standing outside the door.

He was wearing an unusual hat with three clocks attached to it, a chimney extending from it. A tattered travelling cloak was wrapped around broad shoulders. He had dark hair and sharp blue eyes. He looked almost like Echo aged one or two years.

‘Echo?’

Rather than replying the man swung his arm down. Sparks shooting from the ends of his talons.

‘The Doctor is in. Now tell me. Where. Is. My. SISTER!’