The Boy Who Stole Time

Somen Elkin is an existence easily defined by the word, "unlucky."

Since birth, he's lived in the suburbs of the kingdom. Not just any place though, the slums. Filled with cat piss, dog shit, human feces too. One could say it was rarer than diamond to find a corner that didn't smell like a coagulation of the worst parts of animal and human kind.

He has two parents and a sister: perhaps it was even more unfortunate his parents didn't pass away when he was a child. They bicker and argue every day as if it were their job. "Oh, we don't have any money because YOU gambled it away!" quickly fired back with a, "Yeah? Well I'm the only one doing anything around here! It's MY money!"

Fortunately, his sister didn't inherit any of those qualities from them. She was a genius. She learned how to talk before she hit one year old(though, it was mostly slurs, it was all their household ever had to say) and she learned how to tinker with scraps of metal and make devices. It was just their luck that they couldn't sell it. "It's a faulty toy made by a child." They say.

So what was Somen to do? He scoured the place for a job. Some he was fortunate enough to be paid, even if it was hard labor. Carrying hardwood for the folks down the road, collecting metal scraps to be sold off the junkyard, an occasional errand to be ran by the taxmen coming down to this rat faced part of town.

Some jobs were less fortunate. The worst of which was after three days of carrying firewood, he was just beaten to a pulp and even had his money stolen. He came back to his house, his face swollen and his shoulders more sore than Atlas, and witnessed his parents having a debate about who should keep Somen's money.

He was beat up later the day by his father after he found out Somen had his pockets ran.

On a day his forearms smelled like rusted iron and accompanied by the smell of piss after he tripped down a flight of stairs, he was greeted by a message.

[Heaven tosses you a coin for your miraculous determination against the strings of Fate.]

[Time offers you a meeting.]

[Would you like to meet Time?]

Somen's grip eased. The hundreds of metal scraps that had found their way through his flesh all fell down on the floor. Cling cling clang.

Time? Time is a being? A corporeal entity? On par with the gods, no, above them.

His moment of confusion lasted but a moment. If he is to make every second count, then he will meet Time, right now. 

A smile tugged at his lips, "Let's do it."

***************

Somen found himself in space. Earth was below him, no, it was thousands--millions of meters away. It looked as small as the star in the sky. Trillions of streams, as thin as a fishing line, all connected to one large river of transparent, yet luminescent liquid. It seemed to have a "riverbank" to separate the tiny streams made of something grainy, yellow... Sand?

A cloudy blur emerged from the liquids. In an echoing, soft-spoken voice, it said, "Your efforts have brought me a great deal of entertainment. For that, I will grant you a wish. Anything you may desire."

Somen was dumb-struck. A formal meeting with time itself. He could finally be rid of his life in the slums. Infinite money baby!

...

There is a catch, there has to be. My efforts have brought them a great deal of entertainment? Don't make me laugh! That means you've been watching. All along. I don't despise you for it. If I was in your position, I may have laughed at myself too. 

Calm down. This is a meeting with Time. An external force that can crush me at any moment. Think. What can you do?

Ah. I only need confirmation. How do I get that?

Somen looked at Time given "form" and asked, "What's this river?"

It paused for a moment, as if ridiculing Somen for not understanding.

"It is time, not to be confused with myself. I am merely the handler of time. Hurry along now, what is your wish?"

The pieces fell into place. 

With a brazen look on his face that could only mean confidence, Somen replied, "I would like to have dinner with you."

It stopped again, as if to digest the absurdity of Somen's wish.

"Could you repeat that? I'm.. I'm not sure if I heard you correctly."

"I would like to have dinner with you. Give me a nice~ steak."

"Ah.. I could give you money, power, ladies? Anything your heart desires."

Somen frowned, "I want the ability to share a meal with you when I want."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep."

"Then your wish has been granted. Just call out "Bazoonga!" and you'll be transported once here again to have a meal with me."

"Then.. Bazoonga!"

A table manifests with a long cloth draped over it. There is a steak on a plate and utensils by the side. The chairs start moving and seats Somen without him doing anything. On the opposite side of the table seems to be a small girl, rapping utensils on the table.

Somen left his steak untouched for minutes, and after that long silence, he uttered, "Uh.."

"Yeah?"

"So you.. are the handler of time?"

"Time is precious. Cute girls are precious."

So even a deity can be a handful.

Somen garnered his thoughts and looked at the handler with a thoughtful gaze, "What are these small streams?" 

"They constitute life. Time is made up of the collective efforts of every single living being. You could say you have time running in your veins, ha!" It cheered, but Somen didn't seem interested in that part.

Instead, he looks like he's won.

After a struggle to keep his smile off his face, he asks the handler, "Do you know where mine is?"

The handler chucked a forkful of steak inside their mouth and garbled, "Ish next to shu."(It's next to you.)

Somen got off his chair and crouched. He looked over the sand grains that were being pushed away by the rigorous tide of "time."

"What would happen if I took the sand here and covered my stream?"

"Well, since it won't stop until the day you die, it will probably send you back to a fixed point in your life and then continue from there on. You'll retain your memories because you yourself constitute as time, and since you can't be destroyed--"

Somen smirked.

A look of realization and guilt came over the handler's face. For the first time, they had urgency seeping into their voice, "Wait-- No! Don't do it!"

"Can't hear you." Somen chanted as he threw a fistful of sand at the stream, covering it. The liquid raged and rushed to tear down the new wall as Somen's body started to glitch out and disintegrate. He put up a smile and waved goodbye to the manager.

Just before he disappeared, he mouthed, "I'll be back."