Slowly But Surely

Aihan and I sat in silence, both of us steeped in our own thoughts as we tried to untangle this whole mess. I was still obsessing over the fact that we were trapped here — and this strange clock? What role did it play in all of this? More importantly, what role did we play?

Eventually, Aihan broke the silence.

"I'm so confused. We're just two office workers trying not to die with each passing day. Why on God's green Earth would a clock want us to be trapped here?"

I let his words settle, sinking into me as the soft ticking of the clock echoed in my ears. My mind, however, refused to stay quiet — running wild with half-baked theories and eerie possibilities. Maybe… maybe there was more to this than met the eye.

I raised the clock to eye level and stared at it, face-to-face. At first glance, it was just that — a clock, ticking like any other. But when you touched it, it felt strangely warm. It gave off a faint glow, and that frantic, swirling light from earlier? Definitely not normal. That brightness had something to do with why we fell off the cliff in the first place.

"Honestly, Aihan?" I sighed, exhaustion creeping in. "I truly don't know. And I'm just kind of tired at this point. Can't even have a single damn day of relaxation, man."

Tiredness and exasperation were dripping off me like sweat on a hot day.

Aihan groaned, rubbing his eyes and dragging his hand slowly down his face. "Whatever this is, I've got a feeling we're not leaving until we figure it out."

I hummed noncommittally, resting my chin on my right palm, my thoughts drifting further away. A bizarre, vaguely supernatural clock. A mysterious trap in the middle of nowhere. Me and Aihan, somehow involved in all of it. What could it all mean?

Eventually, I lifted my head and gave Aihan a deliberate look — the kind that silently said, Okay, let's actually talk this through.

"Since this clock is already weird," I said, "why don't we be even weirder with our theories? No point being logical about something that clearly isn't."

Aihan raised an eyebrow, then smirked. "I like where this is going. Okay, first theory — we died tragically, and this clock is some kind of limbo device trying to get us to solve an otherworldly problem that mortals aren't supposed to touch."

My right eye twitched in a mixture of disbelief and growing irritation. "The first thing you come up with is that we're dead. Isn't that just delightful? The perfect cherry on top of this disaster sundae."

Aihan shrugged and laughed, leaning back with casual ease. "I mean, come on — it's a clock. There's so much symbolism wrapped into that. It could be anything! Time travel, reincarnation, the cyclic nature of existence — you get what I'm saying?"

I took a moment to absorb his words, then leaned back too, mirroring his posture. "Yeah, I see your point. Could be one or the other… Reincarnation though, huh…"

✦✦✦

"Haha, Finnian, want to come play with me?"

✦✦✦

I snapped out of it instantly, eyes darting around. That voice — where had it come from? And why had it addressed me so familiarly? It tugged at something in the back of my mind, something raw and half-remembered. My thoughts immediately drifted back to those strange dreams I kept having. Dreams filled with whispers, fragments of a face that felt both known and unknown.

Shaking my head to clear the haze, I turned to see Aihan looking at me — half amused, half puzzled.

"Listen, Aihan, even if we go with this whole reincarnation idea… where do we go from there?"

He shifted closer, sitting crisscrossed in front of me, our postures echoing one another. He leaned in slightly as he spoke.

"Maybe we start by telling each other about our weird dreams. Childhood memories. Anything unusual. Maybe someone else is part of this whole situation — maybe it's not even us at the center of it, but we've been dragged into solving it for some reason."

I looked down at my foot, listening carefully to what he was saying.

"And hey," he continued, with a slightly more upbeat tone, "maybe this is also a way for us to relax? A change in scenery and mindset? We could try seeing this from a brighter perspective."

I lifted my head slowly and gave him the most deadpan look I could muster. "Yeah. Almost dying by falling off a cliff is definitely relaxing. Bravo, Aihan — loving the optimism."

He groaned and flailed his arms before grabbing me by the shoulders. "I'm just trying not to go insane and you are NOT helping!"

Shrugging his hands off, I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Fine. Let's do this. We'll go with your idea — tell each other our dreams, talk about anything strange we remember, odd occurrences, whatever. And then we go from there, deal?"

Aihan nodded and went quiet for a moment, thinking. Then, "Before I fall asleep some nights, I sometimes hear a voice… reprimanding me. And no, it's not you — but it kind of sounds like you? The accent's a little different, higher-pitched, like a teenage boy's voice that's cracking but hasn't quite settled yet."

Now that caught my attention. I leaned forward. "What do you mean? Are these moments scattered across different people, or is it the same voice over and over again?"

His eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated, then relaxed into a more thoughtful expression. "It's the same voice. Sometimes it sounds older, sometimes really young. But it's definitely one person — I can feel that. It's like little pieces of days I remember, but they aren't mine. Not from the present, anyway."

I met his gaze, letting my own thoughts spill free. "I get what you mean. I've had glimpses too — little flashes of… something. Memories that don't belong to me, filled with a voice that sometimes feels alive, joyful even… and sometimes it sounds like it's grieving. Like I'm mourning something in my own mind, and it just leaks into my day without warning."

I left out the part about the full-on flashbacks — visions so vivid it felt like I'd lived them.

Me and Aihan locked eyes, sharing a silent agreement.

"Yeah," I said. "Something weird's going on, and it's connected to both of us."

He nodded. "Let's call it a night. We can dig deeper into this tomorrow. Please tell me you've got a lighter or at least know how to make fire?"

Aihan grinned, pulling a lighter out of his shirt pocket like it was a magic trick. "Me, without a lighter? Perish the thought."

I sighed in relief and returned his grin. Finally — something was going right. No matter how small, I'd take the win.

We gathered our makeshift supplies — most of which could double as kindling — and piled them up neatly.

Aihan grabbed a small bundle of grass, lit it, and tossed it into the pile. In seconds, the flames flickered to life, casting a warm glow that cut through the eerie stillness.

Me and Aihan sat across from each other by the fire, our silence returning — but this time it was more peaceful, more contemplative. There was just too much to process, too much to think through all at once.

I stared into the fire, letting my thoughts drift, when a sudden breeze brushed the back of my neck, sending a small shiver through me. A moment later, I felt Aihan shift and come sit beside me, pressing his side against mine in a loose, casual side-hug.

I turned my head toward him and raised an eyebrow. "Are you tweaking?"

He just rolled his eyes and kept his gaze fixed on the fire. "No. I'm just making sure we're warm enough to actually get some rest tonight. And saying we had a 'long day' feels like the understatement of the year. Also… I kind of feel guilty for dragging you into this whole thing."

My jaw dropped slightly in disbelief. I reached over with my right hand, turned his head toward me, and promptly flicked him on the forehead. Before he could even whine about it, I cut him off.

"We're both adults. No one dragged anyone anywhere. I chose to come. None of this is your fault, and you can't exactly predict… this kind of thing."

Aihan rubbed his forehead where I flicked him, giving me a sheepish, sideways smile. "I guess not. Thanks, Fintan. This whole situation is seriously stressing me out. I think it's finally getting to me."

I shook my head and gave him a small smile. "It's fine. Let's just try and get some rest now. We should move over toward the cliff wall — it'll give us some support while we sleep."

He nodded, and we both shifted closer to the cliffside, still staying within reach of the fire's warmth. Aihan rested his head on my shoulder, and I leaned mine against his in return. Our legs stretched out, our muscles slowly relaxing.

This was as comfortable as things were going to get tonight.

"Goodnight, Finny."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help smiling. "Goodnight, Aihan."

✦✦✦

"Belle, are you sure we are headed the right way?"

"Please, Gisèle — have I ever walked a wrong path in my life?"

Belle sighs and prays to the lords above to let them live another day, because her friend's antics will never vanish — while Gisèle snickers at her friend's exasperation toward her.

Gisèle and Belle were both trying to find some pretty flowers to make a couple flower crowns for their mothers. Before they left, Belle was pondering over where she could get the prettiest flowers from — that's when Gisèle said that there was an abandoned cottage deep in the forest. Apparently, the most beautiful flowers surrounded such a place.

But Belle had her reservations about this. They had been walking since half-past now — did this cottage somehow grow legs and sprint away?

Before Belle could continue that train of thought, Gisèle suddenly stopped, which caused Belle to bump against her back. Now upset, before she could say anything, Gisèle turned towards her excitedly. "Look, Belle — we are here!"

Belle raised an eyebrow at her and took a look behind her — and oh heavens, what a sight to behold! Belle and Gisèle quickly ran to the patches of flowers — violet, rose, sapphire — so many colours!

They spend some time plucking flowers and gathering small piles, both humming and dancing along, sometimes meeting each other's eyes and laughing.

A bit of time passes, and as Belle is leaning down and adding some last flowers to her pile, she feels something light being placed on her head. In question, she looks up and sees Gisèle looking at her with a serene smile.

"Thank you, Belle, for coming along with me," Gisèle says while chuckling sheepishly.

Belle smiles and gets up, looking at Gisèle with the most gentle expression gracing her face.

"Gisèle, thank you for bringing me here. This is beautiful," Belle says, and leans down to pick up something she made earlier.

A crown of orchids and pink lilies, that she places over Gisèle's head.

Gisèle smiles softly while blinking slowly, happy about the outcome of her decision to bring her friend here.

As they leave with their baskets full of flowers, with Gisèle leading the way again, Belle brings her hand up and takes off the flower crown to look at it.

Hyacinths and peonies, intertwined with no end in sight.