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Days of Sand
Chapter 1: A Game of Life
An old man paced around a room of flowing sand. His agitation grew with each step as he walked by doorways and statues outlined by the sand. A single shaft of light illuminated the source of his disturbance. It was a chess table with a glimmering hourglass sitting at the side, all set up to play. That was the problem; the match should have started some time ago. The old man was worried. ‘It’s not like her to be late,’ he thought. The clocks inlaid into the patterns of his robes reacted to his concern as their ticking was off beat with one another.
The old man had many names. “Chronos” and “Father Time” being the most popular amongst them. His face seemed old yet he had stopped ageing physically a long time ago. Deep in thought as to where his opponent was, he forgot to look where he was going. He stubbed his toe on one of the stone cubes that provided seating for the match. Chronos threw his hands up in exasperation.
“Ohh. It’s no good. Something has happened to her. I had best find out what the delay is.”
He grabbed the hourglass that sat on the table. Its name was Century and he was sure that it would come in handy on the journey to come. He put on a pair of running shoes and turned the hourglass at an angle. The flowing sands of the room covered his body for a moment. The hourglass was set straight again and the sands fell from his body to rejoin the flow of the room. The man who now stood in the room looked to be a physical age of twenty-four. His robes were now a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. A mass of stopwatches hung from his neck. He seemed prepared for a marathon. He carried the hourglass tightly as he exited the room through his opponent’s door.
A white rook watched from its vantage point on top of a shelf. The room it occupied was crammed with shelves full of hourglasses. Each hourglass had a small plaque with its own name and date of birth. The white rook moved its head slightly so that it could get a better look at the two people below presently cleaning the hourglasses. The younger of two was a man who looked about twenty-one. He wore thick black glasses and had mahogany skin with a white tribal tattoo curling up around his neck from his back. He wore a navy suit with a white shirt and a black tie. On the tie was a pin in the shape of a scythe. He had a nametag but through absent-mindedness it had been put on upside down. It read “Frederick Bumble.” The woman working with him was called Selina Byrne. She had striking red hair and a set of noticeably bright green eyes. She wore the same attire as Frederick except for the upside down nametag. She seemed to be of Asian descent; however her face was pale which only helped to bring out the colours of her hair and eyes. She looked to be in her late thirties and quite attractive however it had been a long time since she last stopped to figure out how old she was. Each of them carried a black feather duster.
Frederick broke what could only have been two minutes silence.
“How can these things be so dusty? I mean considering where we are should it not really be spotless?” Selina rolled her eyes. Signs showed on her face that the never-ending barrage of stupid questions was taking their toll.
“Dust is dead skin. You are in Death’s realm. It belongs here until the sand runs out and the owner moves on.”
“So why are we dusting then?”
“The boss likes a clean house, that’s why.”
“Waste of time if you ask…”
“SMASH.” Selina cringed and took a deep breath before she turned to see Frederick desperately trying to pick up and dust off an hourglass.
“Heh.” He smiled. “Not to worry. See not even a scratch.”
Selina’s attention was drawn to the floor.
“Is that sand?” Frederick screwed up his face and handed the hourglass to her. A little trickle of sand started to spill on to the black marble floor. Selina clutched it tightly.
“This is not good. We’re going to have to go and see the boss about this.”
“Isn’t there any other way to fix it?”
“Yes there is as a matter of fact.”
“How?”
“By wiping your clumsy existence from the pages of history.”
“Oh. I’ll go with the boss fixing it option then.”
“It’s not going to be pretty either way. Come on. I’ll break it to her. At least that way she might go easy on us.”
“You would do that for me?”
“Listen kid we all make mistakes and have to pay the price for them but I’m short on staff and I don’t think you are ready to be thrown in the deep end just yet. You had better learn from this though.”
“Thanks I will. I promise.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” The two walked towards the red swinging doors, not noticing a white rook taking flight and disappearing through a wall overhead.
Chronos jogged through a dark tunnel filled with pinpoints of light. The path was a direct one to Death’s realm. As he jogged he stepped from star to star. A streak of fast light coming up on the right caught his eye and he sprinted to meet it. He jumped on the comet and waited for it to take him to his destination. When he got on he noticed that the comet was not moving of its own accord but was being pushed by a moving shadow.
“Nice of her to send an envoy. Hello Darkness I take it she has plans for a different game of sorts this year.” The shadow swallowed some of the light and used it to form eyes and teeth so that a sort of face could be seen on it.
“Hello Chronos. Long time no see and yes I’m afraid Death has other plans this year.”
“How have you two been getting along?”
“Oh quite nicely. I’m seriously considering a permanent relationship.”
“Wow. That’s a big step. I used to think you and the avatar of black magic were that close.” A long sigh came from the darkness.
“Yeah we were until I found out that she was just using me.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s ok. That’s buried in the past. I really only have eyes for Death now. Well I’d love to chat a bit more but we’re here. You are on your own from here. I have a couple of eclipses to attend to before I can join you.”
“Thanks. I hope it works out for you two. You’re good for each other.”
“Cheers. Talk to you soon.”
“Sure thing. Bye.” With that the shadow disappeared leaving Chronos in the middle of a golden field with a few scattered workers armed with scythes and sickles. Chronos whistled.
“The fields have grown since I was here last.” He spotted a combine harvester as he walked.
“Oh boy. Something big must be going to happen. I wonder what kind of disaster is going to take that many lives.”
Frederick lazily picked up a stone on the beach and skimmed it across the tranquil blue water that surrounded the causeway to Death’s office. Selina let Frederick have his simple pleasures before facing the boss as he was a mess of nerves most of the way there. For some reason the beach seemed to calm him. No matter how many times she had been there the beach office inside the gothic cathedral never ceased to amaze her. The sun shone out of a bell tower making the coloured light of stained glass windows dance on the water. When they finally reached the desk she was nowhere to be seen. Frederick quickly looked about.
“Ok she’s not here, let’s go.” Selina grabbed his collar.
“Not so fast there chump. Boss are you there?”
A woman in a pinstripe suit with an oval cut out of the back stepped out of the shadows behind the palm tree and blue spruce wood. She had straight black hair that grew down to her shoulders and combed over the right side of her face. Her skin was white as alabaster with the odd line of blue to define a vein or an artery. Her eyes were completely white except for the pupils, which looked like two beetles scaling a snowdrift. Her lips were red but obviously only because she wore lipstick. It wasn’t necessary. It was simply because she desired to have more colour about her. Her hands were an odd feature as her fingers seemed more like newly formed branches on a tree then fleshy digits.
She walked towards her desk without leaving any footprints in the sand and sat down.
“Yes Selina. You have something to tell me?” Selina clenched her fist cursing for a moment that she ever decided to take the brunt of the boss’s anger to cover for the mistakes of her junior colleague.
“Yes boss. I’m here to report an accident that only you can fix.” Selina handed Death the broken hourglass.
“It happened while we were cleaning. I apologise and accept responsibility for this carelessness.” Death took the hourglass and smiled her eternal smile. Selina braced herself.
“You can stop worrying Selina, I know what happened.” Frederick almost fainted. Selina looked relieved and slightly puzzled.
“How?”
“A little bird told me. It just so happens that this particular problem is something I cannot fix.” Frederick did faint this time. Death rolled her eyes.
“Pick him up and lean him against that tree would you?” Selina complied while Death continued to talk.
“It is not as much of a problem as your friend surmises. Actually it has provided me with the solution to a quandary that I have been puzzling over for the last century or so.”
“What problem would that be?”
“I was wondering what game I should play instead of chess. You will understand soon enough when our guest arrives. For now I want you and Frederick to hide yourselves in the woods behind me.” Death watched as Selina dragged Frederick off. She shook her head in amusement.
Chronos stopped for a while to take in the sight of the massive cathedral before him. It stood like a giant spider growing fat in its web. A multitude of stained glass windows and gothic spires clashed with helter-skelters and waterslides running around the top of them.
“She must be in a playful mood. Unfortunately its at the expense of the style.” He reached out to pull the noose that rang the doorbell and after a short dirge had played out the large door swung open and he stepped through on to white sands. A white rook flew to meet him and landed on his shoulder.
“Good day Sir. My name is Phyllis. Pleased to meet you. My Mistress is expecting you. Please follow me.” The bird took flight and flew across the causeway. Chronos started to run after her. After a while she started to get too far ahead.
“This way Sir.” She called. ‘Right time to speed things up a bit.’ Chronos clicked the start button on one of his stopwatches. The sand around him lifted him up and carried him like a wave. In moments he stood before Death who sat at her desk. Phyllis perched on a silver branch sticking out of Death’s desk.
“Nice entrance. Good to see you again Chronos.”
“Likewise Death. It’s not often that I get such hospitality before I even meet the hostess.”
“So what is this all in aid of?”
“To make a long story short I am tired of playing chess with you to see who gets to rule the world for the next hundred years.”
“So what do you propose?”
“This.” Death held a cracked hourglass in her bony fingers. Chronos looked puzzled.
“The challenge is to fix this?” Death raised an eyebrow.
“In a manner of speaking. I need you to fix the crack but I want you to make a small hole at each end so that you could easily fill it as well.”
“Ahh. I’m starting to get the picture. Let me see it. Kyle Hunnigan hmm. You intend to put the fate of the world on the shoulders of one man? Interesting idea. So how do we play?”
“What I want you to do is go down to this Kyle Hunnigan and explain to him what this hourglass is. Then, here’s the fun part, he has the challenge of possibly living forever or dying within the short time he currently has left to live. His challenge will be to keep the hourglass as full as possible until he can find a way to bury it in a place that will keep it full.”
Chronos smiled, “Sounds interesting but I fail to see where our participation is involved.” Death raised an eyebrow.
You want more of a challenge then leaving it to fate? Ok then. We each get three opportunities to determine the outcome of his predicament. Does that sound fair?”
“Sounds great. I can’t wait to start. Give me the hourglass and I’ll leave now.” Chronos took the hourglass and started running.
“See you soon. Good Luck.”
“You too” Death called as she watched him head out the large cathedral doors. As soon as they were closed Selina walked out from the trees with a recently recovered Fredrick. Death turned to face them.
“You heard that?” Selina nodded with understanding.
“Yes we’ll get onto it right away.” The two peons started running after Chronos. Death leaned back with a smile on her face.
End of Chapter
