Listen. Do you hear that?
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
No? Then listen closer.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
That is the sound of the world's heartbeat. It is a hollow sound, echoing with the ancient gears of time. Since the world began, the ringing seconds have ticked by, never counting down, only counting forward. For all eternity, that sound will carry on, maintained by the very existence of life.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Close your eyes. Imagine only the sound of the clock. Can you feel it reverberating through your chest? Now, add to that sound, as your ears strain to hear more. Imagine the sound of creaking metal, the dull lub-dub of the double heartbeat. Hear the springs squeak out every fine-tuned note of time continuing. The small pings of metal, as they work out the small chinks in the world's armor. Steam pours into the air, whistling a melody of machinery. The hum of the world surrounds you. And above it all, you hear the shifting of sand, flowing through the cogs of life, cycling through the seconds of time. Take it all in.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Open your eyes.
Gold. It is all you see; everywhere, you see golden hues of radiance. Look past the color, to smell the fragrance of sweet machine oil. The motor humming with its gold smoke, bronze gears turning out their purpose in the world.
This is the Clockwork Garden.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
There is not much time left. For, even as eternity extends, change comes upon the world. A heartbeat might still, even for a moment, and return with such ferocity as to bring together a new world. A new garden, one might say.
Stories tell of this legend, the Clockwork Garden. Written in black ink, tales spin the image of golden sand. The gardener, protector of the world, and the sand of flowing time, resides within this realm. He is the sole keeper of the machinery that provides existence to the world. And he hides away, toiling in his joy, his dreams of the life he's created through the gears. As they turn, they turn, they turn… and they count out the seconds of eternity.
The man loves the dreams he forges in time.
A/N: So this is the first part of my submission to Sweetfrost and Disobedience's RoTG 1800s Steampunk AU! :D It's going to be an eight-chapter fic, with a prologue and epilogue. So that's ten parts altogether. Don't worry, there will be actual characters in the next chapter. :3
Remember to enter the contest yourself! The deadline is October 10th!
I hope you enjoyed this, and reviews are always appreciated!
~Renoku
Also, if I don't finish this by the deadline, I'm still going to complete it. And Learning to Live is not dead! It's on a minor hiatus for this contest, and then possibly for NaNoWriMo.
