Episode 5: when time breaks back
1435 Words
Time didn’t just slow.
It collapsed.
The moment Muna’s fingers closed around the pocket watch, the world didn’t freeze the same way it had before.
This time—
It cracked.
Sound stretched into long, distorted echoes.
Movement fractured into pieces.
The air itself looked like broken glass, each shard holding a different version of reality.
Muna gasped.
“What… did I just do…?”
In front of him—
The Collectors hung mid-motion.
But not still.
No.
They were glitching.
One appeared three steps ahead.
Then two steps behind.
Then right in front of him again.
Like time couldn’t decide where they belonged.
“Wrong…” a distorted voice echoed.
Muna spun around.
The man was there—
But even he wasn’t stable.
His body flickered, like a bad signal.
“You’re not… supposed to… use it like that…” his voice broke apart.
“I didn’t do anything!” Muna shouted.
“You did too much!”
The pocket watch in Muna’s hand burned.
Tick—
Tick—
Tick—
Too loud.
Too fast.
Too many.
Muna dropped to one knee.
His head felt like it was splitting open.
And then—
He saw it.
Not the school.
Not the Collectors.
But time itself.
It wasn’t invisible anymore.
It wasn’t abstract.
It was everywhere.
Threads.
Endless threads of glowing light stretching in every direction.
Through people.
Through buildings.
Through the sky.
Each thread moving at its own pace.
Each one connected to something.
Someone.
Muna reached out—
And touched one.
Instantly—
A memory exploded into his mind.
A little boy laughing.
Running through rain.
Calling someone—
“Wait for me!”
Muna jerked his hand back.
“What was that?!”
“DON’T TOUCH THEM!” the man’s voice snapped, though it echoed like it came from ten different places at once.
Muna’s breathing became uneven.
“I can see everything…”
“Yes,” the man said. “Because you broke the flow.”
Muna shook his head.
“I don’t understand!”
“You forced yourself outside of time,” the man said. “Now you’re looking at it from the wrong side.”
Behind them—
The Collectors began to stabilize.
Their forms solidifying.
Stronger.
More defined.
And angrier.
“They don’t like this,” the man muttered.
“Why?” Muna asked.
“Because you’re interfering with their food.”
The nearest Collector twisted toward Muna.
Its many eyes locked onto him.
And for the first time—
It spoke clearly.
“You… are… broken…”
Muna froze.
The second Collector moved closer.
“You… steal… what is not yours…”
“I didn’t steal anything!” Muna shouted.
The third one leaned in.
“You… will… be… emptied…”
The word hit differently.
Emptied.
Muna’s grip tightened on the watch.
“No.”
The pendant around his neck flared.
Tick—
Tick—
Tick—
The threads around him pulsed.
And suddenly—
He understood something.
Not fully.
But enough.
“They’re not chasing me…” he whispered.
The man looked at him.
“What?”
Muna’s eyes widened.
“They’re chasing my time.”
Silence.
Then the man nodded slowly.
“…Now you’re learning.”
The Collectors lunged.
All three at once.
Muna reacted instinctively.
He reached for the threads.
Grabbed one.
And pulled.
The world snapped.
Everything shifted.
Suddenly—
He wasn’t standing where he was before.
He was five steps to the left.
The Collectors crashed into empty space.
Muna stared at his hands.
“I moved… without moving…”
The man blinked.
“…You rewrote your position in time.”
Muna looked up.
A mix of fear and realization in his eyes.
“I didn’t run…”
“No,” the man said.
“You changed when you were there.”
The Collectors turned again.
Faster now.
Adapting.
“Again!” the man shouted.
Muna hesitated.
Then reached again.
This time—
He grabbed two threads.
Pulled harder.
The world warped violently.
His vision split.
Two versions of himself—
One standing still.
One jumping backward.
Then—
They slammed back into one.
Muna screamed.
Pain exploded through his body.
He collapsed to the ground.
“Too much!” the man snapped. “You’re splitting yourself!”
Muna clutched his chest.
“I can’t control it!”
“You don’t have control!” the man shouted. “You’re forcing it!”
The Collectors were almost on him now.
No time.
No options.
Muna looked at the threads again.
So many.
Too many.
Then—
He saw one.
Different.
Brighter.
Connected to him.
His own.
His breathing slowed.
“If time is something I carry…” he whispered…
“…then I should be able to use mine.”
The man’s eyes widened.
“Wait—don’t—”
Too late.
Muna grabbed his own thread.
And pulled.
Everything exploded.
Light.
Sound.
Memory.
All at once.
Muna felt something rip inside him.
Not physical.
Something deeper.
Like losing a piece of himself.
Then—
Silence.
Complete.
Absolute.
When the world returned—
The Collectors were gone.
The cracks were gone.
The distortion was gone.
Everything…
Was normal.
Too normal.
Muna stood alone in the empty compound.
No students.
No noise.
No movement.
Even the wind had stopped.
“…What did I do…?” he whispered.
“You paid the price.”
Muna turned slowly.
The man stood behind him.
This time—
Fully stable.
Serious.
“What do you mean?” Muna asked.
The man stepped closer.
“You used your own time.”
Muna’s heart skipped.
“And?”
The man didn’t sugarcoat it.
“You lost some.”
Silence.
Muna laughed nervously.
“How much?”
The man looked at him carefully.
Then—
“Years.”
The word hit like a punch.
“…What?”
“You forced a large shift,” the man explained. “The bigger the change…”
He paused.
“The bigger the cost.”
Muna’s legs felt weak.
“No… no, that’s not possible…”
“Look.”
Muna didn’t want to.
But he did.
Above his head—
His clock.
It was there.
And it wasn’t normal.
It was massive.
Larger than anyone else’s.
But cracked.
Pieces missing.
Tick—
Tick—
Tick—
Still moving.
But… damaged.
Muna’s voice came out barely above a whisper.
“…I did that to myself?”
The man nodded.
“Yes.”
Muna looked down at the watch in his hand.
“So every time I use this…”
“You pay.”
Muna swallowed hard.
“With my life?”
The man met his eyes.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Real.
Muna closed his eyes briefly.
Then opened them again.
“But I stopped them.”
The man didn’t respond.
“I stopped them,” Muna repeated.
“…For now,” the man said.
Muna frowned.
“What do you mean for now?”
The man looked toward the sky.
“They don’t give up.”
A pause.
“They escalate.”
Muna exhaled slowly.
“Great.”
The man crossed his arms.
“You wanted to fight back.”
Muna nodded slightly.
“Yeah.”
“Then understand this,” the man said.
“This isn’t a battle you win by strength.”
Muna looked at his cracked clock again.
“…Then how do I win?”
The man’s expression darkened.
“You don’t.”
Silence.
“You survive as long as you can.”
Muna shook his head.
“No.”
The man raised an eyebrow.
“No?”
Muna clenched his fist.
“I’m not just going to wait until I run out of time.”
The pendant glowed faintly.
“There has to be another way.”
The man studied him carefully.
Then—
For the first time—
He smiled slightly.
“…Maybe.”
Muna looked up.
“What do you mean maybe?”
The man turned away.
“Because if there is another way…”
He glanced back.
“It’s hidden somewhere even the Collectors don’t go.”
Muna’s chest tightened.
“Where?”
The man’s voice dropped.
“To the place where time begins…”
A pause.
“…and ends.”
Muna stared at him.
“And where is that?”
The man looked him dead in the eyes.
“…Inside you.”
Silence.
The wind returned.
Voices in the distance.
The world restarted.
Students reappeared.
Noise flooded back.
Like nothing had ever happened.
But Muna knew better.
Because above his head—
His broken clock kept ticking.
And now—
Every second mattered more than ever.
To be continued…
- Writer
