Money makes the world go round. Without it there is no joy or happiness. There is no contentment or fun. There is nothing without money.
Money. That's all Alex's parents had been talking about lately. And it was money that they didn't have. There were so many complex things about finance. So many adult words and phrases Alex was not quite old enough yet to understand.
Money, money, money! Would they ever stop bickering over it? Sometimes they raised their voices. Alex would dig his head under the pillow on his bed in his new room in an attempt to muffle the angry shouts.
They had always shouted every once in a while. But it hadn't been until the house had burnt down and the money issue had become so important that it had gotten worse enough to be a concern. Now, they shouted every day, always over money.
You see Alex's house had burnt down - it was now almost two weeks ago that it had happened. But it had been a horrifying event and the memories were still fresh in his mind. Just as fresh as the first spark that had started the fire and turned his home into ashes.
Now they were living temporarily in his passed away Grandfather's house. It was a huge house full of mystery and secrets. Alex owned a total of one possession that he had saved from the fire as he escaped his inflamed home. It was an old fashioned, glass pocket watch that had been passed down to him by his Grandfather.
Its hands had always been stuck fast into the same position at 12:00 o clock until just a few days ago. Alex had seen the watches hands unfreeze and move just before an encounter with his new next door neighbour. After the encounter he had noticed the hands became stuck again. Now the time frozen on the watch face read exactly 12:24.
It seemed almost to Alex like time had been wasted. Like the watch held a hidden secret. Whatever it be Alex wanted to discover the secret behind the box. But right now, there was just no time for that. For Alex's parents were shouting louder and angrier than ever before.
Tears didn't fall from Alex's eyes. He just sat calmly on his bed staring in space. Tears would do him no good. They only made you weaker. And there was no point in stuffing his face in his pillow and drowning out the sound. The shouts would still be there - still be real and he didn't want to fool himself that they weren't.
A door slammed. It was a sound of fury. Footsteps started coming up the hall. They got louder and louder as they approached Alex's room door. Ticking was another sound Alex started to hear. Could it be . . .? He leaned over, picked the pocket watch off his desk and sure enough it was ticking again. Thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two. A footstep landed on the floorboards outside with every second. Alex slid the pocket watch into his pocket as his mother entered the room.
She sat on the bed beside him and stroked his hair. "Alex, there's something you need to know." She whispered in his ear.
"Yes?"
Alex's Mum suddenly fell into tears. "I'm really sorry Alex, but your father and I are getting a divorce."
