The Wooden Watch

Date: 7/31/2019

Well... here we go! My dream started back at my house. My sister (mentioned in a previous dream as Bri) had just received a watch from my mom. Mom failed to tell her just how special this watch really was. Bri encountered a neighbor who pointed out that it was an antique, and he’d love to trade it for another watch that he had. Bri, being 12 years old, didn’t know what an antique was. So she happily traded that watch face for another one. This watch she received had a small, simple watch face. It had a white background and 2 little hummingbirds painted on it. The frame on it was broken. She brought it back home all excited, showing me the new(er) watch face she had just received and telling me the story. “You what?!” I stared at her in disbelief. Unlike Bri, I had somehow understood that this watch had been a family heirloom from the 1800s. “You understand he ripped you off, right?! That was a very special watch face! And very old, too!” But even I hadn’t understood just how special this watch had been. Mom came into the room after hearing all the yelling. “What is all the screaming about?” She’d asked, annoyed. So I told her. She was shocked, and very upset. Turning to Bri, she blew up. “Do you even understand what you’ve done?” That watch wasn’t an ordinary watch! It was an antique, a family heirloom, and-“ She’d stopped. Bri and I looked at each other curiously. Mom sighed and started again, quieter this time. “That watch face has been passed through our family for generations. Since the beginning of the 1800s. And it’s not just a watch face.” As she said that, she pulled a small wooden key out of her pocket. It was a beautiful key, the wood matched that watch’s frame exactly, it was a reddish wood that seemed a very warm color. And it had pretty floral carvings in it, all colored gold. “You know that little hole in the bottom of the watch frame?” Bri and I nodded. “Well, I was actually supposed to give it to Lexi here. It had been given to your Aunt Mel, but since she hadn’t passed the middle name down to either of her girls, and your Uncle Harry hadn’t either, she gave it to me. I had passed my middle name to Bri, but I’d given the family name to Lexi.” She turned to me and took my hands. “But because your sister likes watches so much, I accidentally gave it to her. I was going to tell you later that the watch was actually yours, but..” She shook her head. “I’m not so sure now. Where does he live, Bri?” “Right down the street.” She replied quietly. Mom stood up with a look of determination set on her face. “Let’s go” she demanded. She pulled us into the car and we drove down to his house. I was clutching the little key in my hands the entire time. We got there and she got out of the car, we followed her. Mom matched up to the door and rang the doorbell. I still clutched the key, and Bri held the broken watch face she’d been given. A fat, middle aged man open the door. He was pale, and spotted slicked back black hair and a black mustache. His house was bigger and fancier than the others in our neighborhood, and he was wearing a black tuxedo. He saw my sister and went to shut the door, but mom stuck her foot in the way. “I believe.” She stated simply. “That we have some business to discuss?” The guy looked at her for a minute and then opened the door again. “Follow me.” He said stiffly. We sat down at a round table near the door. Mom raised and eyebrow and leaned forward. “I believe.” She started. “That you are in possession of a watch face that belongs to me.” Bri winced at her words. She timidly lifted her hand and placed the watch face she’d been given onto the wooden table. “You gave my daughter this broken piece of trash in exchange for a very important family heirloom. And I would like it back.” “I’m afraid it was a fair trade.” The guy retorted. “Then I suppose you wouldn’t mind trading it back then, would you?” Ouch. That was smart. I stared down at the key in my lap. Then I looked up at him. “And you couldn’t make any money off of it anyway. You don’t have all the pieces!” I held up the key, trying to look fierce. The guy looked at it for a moment, then turned toward my mom. “Well..what’s the key for?” My mom held out her hand, and after a bit of hesitation, he gave her the watch. She turned to me and placed it in front of me. “Go ahead.” She smiled at me. I lifted the key and placed it inside of the bottom of the watch’s frame. This watch wasn’t small, by the way. It was a circle, and about 6 inches tall and wide straight across. First, I turned the key to the left. A hidden drawer popped out. It was perfect for storing things in, leaving only a half inch of space between the top and bottom of the watch’s frame. There was something stored in it. Only I saw the contents inside, and I quickly shut it so no one else could. If this guy had seen what I’d seen, he would never give it back. Next, I turned the key to the right, and this is where it went crazy. The top of the watch face lifted up, and (even though this defy’s everything) a music box was inside. As the top opened, the music box bit lifted too. Now there was music box pieces inside, all rotating bits. But in the center, a large, round bit of light colored wood stood above the rest. And inscribed on it in golden lettering was my middle name, Jean. In real life this name actually has been passed through our family for generations. And it really was my Aunt Mel’s middle name, and I really am the only one of this generation with that name. Back to the story, though. The music box was playing a jaunty little tune. It was beautiful. After listening for a minute, I turned the key. The music box closed, silenced. The room was quiet again, and then my mom spoke up. “Now, I need this back. It is, as I’ve said before, very important.” The guy looked at her for a minute. “How much money will you give me?” Mom pulled a 100 dollar bill out of her pocket and placed it on the table. The guy just shook his head. So she put another one down. He looked thoughtful, but shook his head again. This went on till about $500. Then she put down a 50. “Hmmm..add $2.” So she put down $2. The guy went through this till he warned about $20. Mom started randomly placing down 20s and 10s and 5s. “There!” She announces. “That’s enough. I shouldn’t be paying to earn back something that wasn’t yours to begin with, that was unfairly traded in the first place.” The guy shrugged. Apparently, he’d just been trying to see how far my mom would go for this heirloom. The trade was made, and we left the house. Back home, I opened up the drawer again. Inside was an extremely valuable necklace, and some extremely valuable bank notes from the 1800s. I took out the necklace and placed it on. Actually, I have this necklace in real life, but I got it for $10 at a gift shop. It was a little different. Instead of a large cocoa colored teardrop, it was a little lighter than the color of honey. The chain was still silver. And ‘Jean’ has been inscribed in silver onto the golden teardrop. * * * * * Some time later, my sister had paid off the $600 something dollars that she’d owed mom for that trade. Mom announced that we’d be going on vacation to Destin, Florida. We waited till dad got home, told him the good news, and we packed up. For some reason, I packed my PlayStation and the video game, Minecraft. Flash forward a bit, and we are in Destin. Apparently, a hurricane is on it’s way and no one is allowed anywhere near the ocean. We’ve gone inland a bit, and dad and I are playing a Minecraft game. He decided that he would play as an ended dragon, and I’d play in survival. The world was mostly water, with different bases all set up. I switched to Creative while he wasn’t looking. He gave me $25 when I beat him. Afterwords, my parents have gone to bed. Bri and I decide to watch the original Beauty and the Beast. But I had accidentally packed the sequel instead (Don’t get excited, there isn’t a sequel). The prince’s name was Prince James. There had been a jealous stepmom apparently. Belle looked the same, just with longer hair. ‘Prince James’ looked like an animated version of Prince Ben from the descendants movies. It wasChristmas time, and the old, previously evil queen had decorated the tree (aka she told the servants where to put the decorations). She was all expectant, waiting to be handed the Star. But Princess Belle was given the Star instead. So the queen publicly embarrassed Belle, who ran off to a hidden treehouse in the back gardens of the castle. The treehouse sat above the ocean, and no one knew about it. James ran out after her, looking everywhere. He found her treehouse. There was some weird pills system to get into it, and he couldn’t figure it out. Belle was laughing really hard, watching him struggle with it. When he finally figured it out, he got up to the treehouse. He leaned towards her, going to kiss her, but apparently he’d landed wrong. He fell from the treehouse, landing in a little trailer full of hay. For some reason that caused it to catch on fire (???). The treehouse was quickly engulfed into flames. People were freaking out, trying to figure out how to get Belle out of it. James fell off the side off the cliff and into the ocean way down below. Belle was going down a slide at the side of the treehouse, escaping. And I was woken up by my alarm that had accidentally been set.. 😞