18 September 2012
I entered the house with a very shaken head. I locked the door and limped quietly up the stairs leaving my coat and umbrella by the stairs. I reached the landing and slipped in to the guest room.
I would have slept in Annie's room but there was no room on the bed and there extra mattress didn't fit on the floor.
I sat down on the bed and un-folded the piece of paper John had given me. She had wrote all the information down in case I forget what she had told me. And I have. So I began to read; As the clock strikes midnight twice, Your life shall be for ever paralysed, When the shadows begin to grow, Your time is running out so go.
Follow the clocks handles, Follow the clocks rules, Each number has a secret, So careful don't be fooled.
I folded up the paper and thought. I hate riddles even if there as easy and clear as this one. Follow the clocks rules?!?! I had agreed to meat John again tomorrow but in the afternoon this time. I'll ask her about it then but now all I need is a good rest. I slipped under the duvet and gave myself a minute to warm up the blanket a bit. I then closed my eyes and fell asleep thinking about clocks.
I entered the dream world. I looked around me. There were clocks dancing and singing every-were. I was as small as a pin so the clocks didn't notice me which all so meant I almost got squished twice. There were clocks of every shape and size. There were grandfather clocks, and alarm clocks, and couple of watches, and cuckoo clocks that seemed to come out whenever they felt like it oh and of course there were a lot of your ordinary every day clocks jumping around trees and little cute alarm clocks running in the meadows. I went up to the smallest clock I could find ( a watch ) and tapped him on the back. He spun around and accidently knocked me over. "Oh sorry misses." He said in a big, echoing voice."I didn't see you there. Wow! Your mighty small aren't ya." "And your mighty big." He laughed a big booming laugh (which was probably a quiet giggle to the other clocks). I blocked my ears and waited for him to stop. Eventually he did. "So whats your name misses?" " Alice" I answered. "Sorry what was that?" "ALICE!!!" I shouted. "Ah that's better. You know you should speak out a bit louder. Thats what my teacher all ways said." He said puffing out his chest. "Sure ok" I said in my voice's normal volume. "Pardon?" "Oh nothing." I shouted up to him."But don't you think it would be easier to here me if I'm beside your ear?" (I didn't actually know where his ear was.) "Of course, of course! How rude am I making you shout? How rude, how rude." He bent down and scooped me up in his skinny cartoon arms. He placed me on to his metal strap and I asked him his name. "Sir tikclockten. Pronounced tick-clock-tin." Was his reply. So I asked him some more questions. "So where am I?" was my next question. "Well we're in threeophiana don't you know. Here let me show you around." He began walking and I began talking. "Well do you know anything about this riddle I heard yesterday I can't understand it all." "Here I'll give it a shot." He replied and some hope grew in side of me. I put my hand in to my pocket and it emerged grasping a piece of paper. I read the riddle out loud to him and at the end he looked at me and asked "Is that all?" "Um...yes." He laughed and laughed causing me to bounce up and down on his strap holding on as tightly as I could. He stopped and said "Ya call that a riddle?" And he erupted out laughing again. After around ten minutes he seized his laughter and wiped his eyes. "Well if your laughing so hard I presume you know the answer?" I said to him angrily. "Oh sorry misses it's just so damn funny." he answered me almost bursting out again. I waited for a while with my arms crossed waiting for him to tell me the answer. Finally I grew impatient and said firmly "Well are you going to tell me?" I almost lost my nerve on the last two letters. He opened his mouth to speak and said "Come on Alice get up its half eleven already. Mum said you've slept in long enough and that I should wake you." I cracked my eyes open and Annie was shaking me. I groaned while thinking "I was *this* close to finding out what John meant." "Ok I'll be down in a minute." I told Annie and slipped my legs out of the bed.
Chapter 8: Clocks!!! • Opuss № I