The Clockmaker's Sleep

The city had sold its dreams to pay for the harbor.

This was before Elian was born, before the glass towers rose along the water and the ferries began arriving on time. His mother said the bargain was wise. Dreams were bright but useless things. Harbors fed children.

Elian became a clockmaker because clocks were honest. Gears did not pretend. Springs did not wake at dawn and claim they had seen a blue horse running across the moon.

Still, he collected broken alarm clocks from the market and listened to them at night.

Inside their stopped ticking, he heard a softer rhythm.

It sounded like breathing.