The Forgotten Clock
Once there was an old man of 80. He was a jolly old fellow. His wife Maude was at her usual dinner outing when Henry, the old man, was sitting down in his red recliner chair, thinking. His chair happened to be setting right in front of an old clock, grandfather clock to be specific. You see, he wasn't really an old man, but a top secret scientist in disguise. He had been sent to put together a clock that had been broken for centuries.
Every night when Maude was out, Henry would sit and ponder and chip away at this tough mystery. One night, he thought and thought and made a big breakthrough on the mystery. All the pieces were lying on the floor around the living room. On this particular night, he hobbled over, keeping the ruse alive in case Maude should come in, and grabbed a crank, a hand, and a pendulum. As he was walking back over to the clock, he picked up a screwdriver. He put in the hand and pendulum, and then secured the crank to the wood. He then turned the crank and waited. Nothing happened. He turned the crank again… still nothing. He unscrewed the pieces and put them back in their place. Henry then packed all parts of the clock back into boxes, as he did every night; so that Maude wouldn't find out he was trying to fix the clock. She probably thought he couldn't, but didn't want to risk it. What he thought was a breakthrough, had only been a mere idea.
The next night, he asked Maude if she could drop him off at the tavern, on her way to the bar.
She agreed and told the cab driver to stop at the tavern. He went into the tavern and through the entrance to a secret society known as LRM, or Lucus Redkin Mysteries. He stepped in, and the same chill went down his spine as in the old days. Slowly, the elevator lowered, until finally it stopped.
He walked to the boss's office and the boss said, "Welcome back John. Have you figured it out?" John was Henry's real name.
"No, but I need equipment," he said, trying to show his boss that he hadn't given up.
The boss looked seriously at the man opposite himself and said, "Follow me."
John followed him, because he was an agent/scientist and had seen this display before. Immediately, he grabbed the ray goggles and auto-powered screwdriver. He had a realization right then. Maybe the clock wasn't meant to work, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to make it work anyway.
After he got home, he went to bed and hid is so called "equipment". The next night, Henry went to work. He tried this and that, to no avail. Again he hid his equipment. This is what happened for about three years, until one night his beloved wife didn't come home. Later that night, he received a phone call from the hospital. He had to say his last good-byes to Maude. She had had a heart attack and was only expected to live a couple more hours. Henry rushed to the hospital. Even though she was the wife of his disguise, he still had great fondness for her.
After her death he was sad, but soon found a new life. He didn't want to be lonely, so he went to the bar and married a beautiful woman, of his own age. Her name was Ellen; she was very smart.
He told her the secret. She was shocked, yet accepted the idea. He asked her to be his assistant, and she heartily agreed.
By night they labored. Every night they worked until half past twelve. Finally, one year later, the clock had been put together, though it didn't tell accurate time.
One late autumn night, when they had taken apart the clock completely, it hit her. She was the great, great, great granddaughter of Elaine Marywhether, the original owner of this large clock. She quickly told John, he had given up his disguise, and he was flabbergasted. The woman he had married had held the key to the mystery the whole time!
He said, "Quickly, where did she live?"
"In Hawaii," she replied without a doubt. Of course it ended up being the farthest point away from Long Island, in the whole U.S.
Although frustrated, he calmly said, pack your bags, we're going to Hawaii."
She was astonished and agreed right away to leave in the morning. She packed so quickly, that before long; her room was a terrible mess. After she finished packing, she began to clean up her mess; she then wanted to organize it. So, setting to work, she stayed up all night. When John came home from the airport to pick up Ellen, she was ready. She slept through the whole flight to Hawaii. When they arrived, they went straight to work. John searched the garage, while Ellen searched the bedrooms. John didn't find a thing, and neither did Ellen. They restationed themselves and continued the search. Suddenly, Ellen, who was searching in the bathroom, checking out the pipes, found it. She snatched it and ran to her husband's portion of the house. They didn't even have to stay the night. The couple went to catch the next flight back to Long Island.
When they were in line for tickets, they happened to here some overhead announcements; their flight had been cancelled. They bought their tickets despite the cancellation, and stayed in a nearby hotel to wait it out. The next morning, John and Ellen were among the first in line to board. They left at 6:01 AM, and arrive back in New York in the evening. They agreed that the ferry ride back to their island was very pleasant. When they got to their home, they both went straight to bed. The next night, they looked at the blueprints and gradually, night after night, worked on repairing and rebuilding the clock once more. Finally, on a cloudy spring night, it was complete. All they had to do was wait. At the stroke of midnight, it chimed out, loud and clear.
"It works!" they exclaimed in unison.
The next night, they took the clock to LRM, and pronounced it done. John and Ellen were awarded handsomely. Ellen was finally considered an official member, and John was presented with the highest possible award for employees.
He was happy. He had a wonderful new wife, and the dedication he had shown for his work had paid off after all. John's work was done…for now.