John Whittaker strolled into work on morning carrying a rather large and heavy box under his arm. He set in down on the counter with a thud, causing Connie to look up from washing the dishes.

"More books?" The red-headed teenager asked, rolling her eyes. That was the fifth box Whit had brought into his shop, "Whit's End", that week. And it was still only Wednesday, she realized with a shudder. "Do you think there'll be room for more?"

Mr. Whittaker, or Whit, as he liked to be called, laughed. "I think so. But I didn't have time to sort it at home, so I thought I'd do it here." With that, he dumped the contents of the box rather untidily on the counter. A cloud of dust rose from the pile.

"And where exactly did you find this box?" Connie coughed, waving away the dust with one hand and picking up a book with another. "The Moon and Sixpence," she read aloud. "Never heard of it."

"That's because it was written before I was born." Whit took the book from her and wiped the cover off with a damp cloth. He then set it down in a clean box, ready to be taken upstairs to the library. "And I found this one in the attic."

"I should have figured." Connie grinned. "I know what your attic looks like."

As it was several minutes before opening time, Connie helped Whit clean the books; she asking about certain titles, him supplying the answers. Les Miserables, A Tale of Two Cities, and The Scarlet Pimpernel, among others, were added to the pile before they reached the bottom of the old box.

Whit was about to break it down for recycling when Connie stopped him. "Wait. I think there's something else in here…" She said. She reached her hand in and drew out what looked like a small, mid-19th century pocket watch. It had the colour of gold that hadn't been polished in ages, with an intricate and somewhat familiar design. "Recognize this?"

Whit took the watch from her, turning it over and over in his hand. "No… and yes." He said slowly. "I mean, I do… but everything in me tells me that I don't." He shook his head, as if trying to clear it. He looked up at her, and she was staring at him as if he were crazy. "Don't you normally have brown hair?"

"Whit…" she said. "There! You're ignoring it… and I just didn't want to dye my hair this morning, that's all. Think I'll give it a break." She paused. "Oh! The watch. That's what we were talking about, right?" She looked at it nervously, as it was capable of jumping out of Whit's hand and biting off hers. What possessed it to be able to throw off their minds like that?

"Yeah…" Whit said absently, staring at the old timepiece. He felt as if it were whispering to him, secrets of forgotten times and far-off places; of secrets never to be told and children long grown up and lost.

Ding! The bell over the door sounded as Eugene came dashing in, breaking him out of the spell the watch seemed to put over him. "Sorry I'm late!"

"Wow… for once…" Connie mocked him as he dashed by on his way upstairs.

"Do not tease me, Ms. Kendall! I have work to do!" He called over his shoulder. Footsteps were heard as he made his way to the Bible Room.

"Collision in 3… 2… 1…" Connie counted down, and as she hit zero a large bang was heard in the far left corner where the Imagine Station was. Whit looked at her quizzically, and she said, "He left all his tools out last night. I warned him, but he said it would be faster to just leave them out for work the next day." She shook her head, and smiled. "He'll never learn."

"Yes… but maybe he can give us a few answers about this watch."

"What wa- Oh! Yeah, maybe he can run a few test on it or something." Connie was frightened now. What was it that caused her to forget about it so easily? And why did it look so familiar?

"Connie…" Whit started, getting slightly nervous himself, "Do you have a watch like this?"

So that's why it's so familiar! "Yeah, actually, I do. But it doesn't work or anything. I've thought to throw it out several times, but something keeps holding me back."

"Huh." Whit said, deep in thought. Something was nagging at him, like a mental itch in the back of his brain.

Connie went to the bottom of the stairs. "EUGENE! WE NEED YOU!" She called. Whit winced. "You could have used the intercom," He said, rubbing his left ear.

"Sorry," Connie grinned sheepishly, "But it's faster this way." As to prove her point, there was the sound of footsteps going from the Bible Room towards the stairs, and after a moment Eugene came to the front counter. "Yes, Ms. Kendall?"

"We need you to run some tests on something we found." Whit said.

"Alright, if you will allow me to see this object, I will commence shortly." Connie rolled her eyes, but not enough for Eugene to see and comment. There wasn't time for that today.

Whit handed him the watch, and Eugene set it on the counter and took a magnifying glass out of his breast pocket. "You just happened to have one of those in your pocket?" Connie asked sarcastically.

"Of course," Eugene continued to look at the watch, letting her sarcasm roll off him. "It just looks like a watch… why do you want me to run tests on it?"

"Well, this may sound weird, but we think that there is some sort of mystery surrounding it, and we thought that there might be some sort of markings or dust on it to help to solve it."

Eugene looked up, and Connie could almost see the "do you know how stupid that sounds?" in his eyes. But he nodded, put it in his pocket, and took it upstairs to the computer room. He knew better than to argue with Mr. Whittaker.

"Connie, do you think that you could run to your house and get your watch? It might help." Whit asked.

"Yeah, of course." Connie reached for her coat. She slipped it on, and walked to the door. Jason Whittaker, Whit's son, met her there.

"Oh, hey Connie," Jason greeted her. She greeted him somewhat absently, and kissed him lightly on the lips before heading out the door. They had gotten engaged last month, and planned to marry in the near future.

"So… what's up?" Jason asked casually. "...Dad?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Jason. Just thinking."

"Yeah, I could kinda tell. Anything you want to share?"

Whit thought for a moment before responding. "Well, it's this fob watch I found in the attic. I accidentally brought it in with a bunch of books, and I would have thrown it away, if Connie hadn't noticed it."

"So? It's just a watch."

"Yeah, I know, but there's something about it… that's weird. I'm not exactly sure." Whit lowered his voice slightly. 'I could have sworn that it was talking to me."

"Talking to you?" Jason would have laughed if Whit didn't look so serious. "Dad. Really?"

"I'm serious, Jason." Whit did indeed look deadly serious.

"But… I thought you didn't believe in ghosts and the like." Jason was genuinely confused. Here was his father, going against something that he believed his whole entire life."

"Now, don't jump to any conclusions, Jason." Whit smiled. "I never said I thought it was that."

"But you thought it. Where is this watch now?"

"Eugene has it. I-" Whit started, then stopped as a loud crash was heard coming from the computer room. Whit and Jason dashed upstairs and into the secret room, only to find Eugene out cold with the watch in his hand.

Maybe there's more to this watch than I thought.