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The Four Clocks One eye struggled to open until just a small beam
of candlelight could make it through. A small form stood in front of
Vincent’s face. His eyelid gave up the fight and went back down. “You up, Vincent?” Geoffrey asked because
although he could have sworn he saw an eye open, Vincent looked like he
was sleeping still. A rumble came from the reclining form. “Yes.”
Calculations whirred in his head as Vincent weighed really awakening
versus continuing his slumber. Propriety won out in the end. “You have a
message for me?” Vincent guessed. “Yeah. Father said to get yourself to the
literature class because he can’t cover that one for you.” “Literature? Cover for me? What are you talking
about Geoffrey?” Vincent’s eyes were wide open finally.
Geoffrey leaned in close to Vincent’s face and
whispered, “You overslept Vincent.” “What?” Vincent’s voice was the opposite of a
whisper as evidenced by Geoffrey’s wince. Vincent took a deep calming
breath. “I’m sorry, Geoffrey. Tell Father I’ll be there. And thank you
for coming to wake me up. You must have … drawn the short straw.”
Geoffrey had the grace to blush. “No
problem, Vincent.
See ya!” He sped out of Vincent’s
chamber leaving Vincent to either get ready or fall back to sleep. Vincent sat on the edge
of the bed.
What is happening to me?
he wondered. The third time he’d overslept in as many weeks. Nothing
unusual had happened recently. There was the usual routine maintenance,
his classes, and fewer visits to see Catherine since she was tied up
with a big case. So why was he so tired? He did short work of
his morning ablutions, pulled on clean clothes, and ran to the classroom
just in time. Some of the students were munching a snack, which Vincent
eyed hungrily. Sigh.
If I had gotten up on time, I could have had
William’s hearty breakfast, he
thought. He vowed to be first in line for lunch! The students teased him about missing the earlier
class. Kipper commented on Vincent’s sense of timing being off.
“Anything wrong Vincent? You feel okay?” “I feel fine. Thank you all for your concern, but
I just overslept. It happens. Although, rarely to me. I will make sure
it doesn’t happen again.” “How?” little Mary asked. “Watcha gonna do,
Vincent?” Her comment opened the floodgate of ideas from the children. “You could go to bed earlier. Father tells us we
do most of our growing at night so we need to sleep a lot.” Jason, who
was especially small for his age, offered this tidbit. “Are you still
growing, Vincent?” Vincent smiled. “I don’t think so, Jason.” “You could burn extra candles so it wouldn’t be
so dark, and maybe you could wake up like it was morning,” offered
Penny. “Whatever the cause, I’m sure it will pass. Now
let’s get to today’s lesson. Who can tell me what the reading for today
was about?” Vincent eased them into the reading and kept them too
interested in the story for further speculation into his late sleeping
habits. Although they no longer said anything didn’t mean the children
weren’t thinking about it.
After class, the kids discussed it again. “We
need to help Vincent,” Geoffrey said. “We don’t want him in trouble with
Father.”
“How?” little Mary asked. “I remember when I lived Above, my Mom used an
alarm clock. I bet we could find one around here that isn’t being used,
and we could set it and sneak it into Vincent’s chamber. Then tomorrow,
the alarm would ring, and Vincent will wake up!” The others thought that sounded good, so they
scattered to look among the chambers for a clock they could set for
Vincent. Each approached the task with the utmost ambition, for helping
Vincent was a rarity. Usually, it worked the other way. *** Vincent wearily reached his chamber, shed his
clothes and donned his night sweats in a minimum of effort. He slid
between his sheets and quilt, not even bothering to extinguish the lone
candle left burning. He smiled to himself remembering Penny’s comment.
He didn’t think it would matter … Vincent was already asleep. Catherine never looked more beautiful. Her hair,
so soft, fell in a halo around her head as she lay back on Vincent’s
bed. She was smiling warmly at him, pleased by something he said.
Vincent was about to sit next to her when… Vincent sat bolt upright in his bed. A clanging
like he had never heard was echoing throughout his chamber! There were
different tones, ringing at different frequencies, all creating a
cacophony of sound that drilled into his delicate ears. Above the din,
he heard Father’s shuffling steps approaching his chamber at a rather
fast pace. “Vincent! For heaven’s sake! Do something about
all that clatter, or you’ll wake the dead!”
Vincent sat in bed, perplexed and speechless.
Feeling like a child in trouble, he exclaimed to Father, “I have no idea
what this is! I didn’t do anything!” Father looked past Vincent to the armoire against
the back wall. There sat four different alarm clocks clanging their way
about the top, perilously close to falling off from the vibrations. “Four alarm clocks?” Father asked. “Isn’t that a
bit superfluous, Vincent?” “Alarm clocks?” Vincent looked in the direction
of Father’s gaze. His head dropped a moment. He hurried over to shut off
the offending clocks. At last. Blessed silence! “I fear the children
have been ‘helping’ me, Father. They were concerned yesterday in class
about my oversleeping. I believe an alarm clock might have been
mentioned.” At that, Father began laughing. He laughed so
hard, he at last found Vincent’s chair and sat. His laughter finally
subsided. “Well, Vincent, we are doing something right by these children
that they care so much to help you wake up for class. Not just one alarm
clock, mind you, but four!” he chuckled again. “I haven’t seen you look
so … so … confused and grumpy at the same time since you were their
age!” Vincent had to smile, remembering those mornings
Father was thinking about. “I think some of the tunnel residents are
missing their clocks. I’ll have to quietly check and return them.” “I think you shall do no such thing, Vincent.”
Father sternly viewed his son as he stood. “Those children went to a lot
of trouble to help you. You will keep those clocks where they are. Now,
only set one to go off, mind you. But leave these here to remember what
happened today, and the lesson you learned from the children.” “What lesson might that be, Father?” “Why, the love of children is timeless, Vincent! What else?” His laughter faded as he walked the tunnel toward his own chamber. Vincent smiled looking at the clocks. “Indeed, Father.”
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