The Clock of Turning Tides
Episode 5: Rushing Waters
The clock gears locked with a deafening clack, the mainspring snapping into place as the hands stopped their wild spin and snapped forward to face the correct hour of midnight. Outside the open door, a tremendous wall of roaring water crashed against the cliff base with seismic force as the Atlantic ocean rushed back into the harbor in a towering tidal wave of white foam. The silver fog dissolved instantly, washed away by the returning brine that flooded the lower level of the lighthouse and soaked Julian’s boots to the knees.
Equilibrium
Hours later, municipal emergency services arriving at Ravenwood Point by boat found the historic lighthouse standing quietly in the morning sun, its beacon rotating with steady, normal precision. Inside the lobby, Julian Vance sat on a wooden bench by the dry floor, soaked to the skin and staring at the master clock, which ticked away peacefully in standard forward time. The tide-indicator on the wall pointed steadily toward high tide, and the logbook on the desk lay open to the current date, perfectly dry and signed in Julian’s own hand.