Magpie Tales#10 A Watch...and.......

She turned the watch over in her hands and thought again of her elderly grandfather to whom it had belonged. The face shone and she imagined that he had held it in his hands just as she was doing now. She had found it at the back of the drawer when she was looking for a note pad. He had left the watch to her in his Will several years earlier, it had held no charm for her then, but now she looked at it with new eyes. The design on the face was quite pretty and it looked as though it could be of value. After all why would her grandfather leave her something if it had no value, she had been his favourite granddaughter?

She switched on her computer and started to search for fob watches. There was nothing pictured like the watch she had and any way it was too boring to be sitting there ‘googling’ watches. It was just like hundreds of others and she concluded it was of no real value at all. She threw it down onto the pile of papers and letters and unpaid bills that were constantly stacked beside her computer and suddenly there was a ticking which she hadn’t heard before. ‘Oh my gosh,’ she thought it works and she sat and watched as the golden coloured hands moved slowly.

My grandfather must have watched this she thought and her mind flooded with memories of him, his smile and wispy hair, the white bristles on his face where he never really shaved cleanly. Suddenly she was back in time walking along side him with sand blowing against the back of her legs. Her hand, in his was warm and as they strode out towards the sea, he with his long legs meant that she had to run to keep up with him. The wind lifted her hair off her shoulders and she was glad he had said to wear her knitted hat. He had his scarf wrapped round his neck but he had taken off his glove so as to feel her little hand in his. ‘How could such a wee child make his heart swell with such joy,’ he thought. Seagulls swirled around and squawked overhead and the sound of the winter sea roared as it pounded the rocks. She pulled away from him and ran ahead, shouting to him to come and catch up with her.

As she turned towards him, she saw he was looking at his pocket watch and knew he was going to say, ‘No time today we have to go back.’ And back she was in her tiny flat and the watch ticking in her hand.

It didn’t matter that it was just an old watch, it had been his and that was precious memories. Clare sat in her chair and held the watch close to her chest, it had been his and that was riches enough she thought; tears slowly spilled down her face, but she was smiling and the watch ticked on.

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