The attic smelled like dust, rain, and things that had been forgotten on purpose.

Mira pushed the creaky wooden door open, wincing as it groaned in protest. No one had come up here since her grandfather passed away. Her parents said it was better that way less painful.

Mira disagreed.

She stepped inside anyway.

The air felt heavier than the rest of the house, like it had secrets pressed into every corner. Old trunks lined the walls, covered in thin sheets. A single window let in gray evening light, just enough to make shadows look alive.

“Just find the documents and leave,” she muttered to herself.

But her feet didn’t listen.

Something some quiet, invisible pull guided her deeper into the attic. Past the boxes, past the broken chair, to a small wooden table tucked in the far corner.

And there it was.

A clock.

It didn’t look special at first glance. Just an antique desk clock, bronze with delicate carvings curling around its edges. But the glass was cracked, like it had been dropped… or shattered from the inside.

Mira frowned.

“I don’t remember seeing this before…”

She stepped closer. The clock wasn’t ticking.

In fact, it was completely silent.

Too silent.

Her fingers hovered over it for a second before she picked it up. It was colder than it should have been, sending a chill up her arm.

That’s when she noticed the engraving.

Tiny words, etched so faintly she almost missed them:

“What will you trade for another chance?”

Mira let out a small laugh. “Creepy.”

She turned it over, looking for a switch or battery compartment, but there was nothing. No brand. No markings. Just… that question.

Another chance at what?

Before she could think about it too much, thunder rolled outside. The room flickered as lightning flashed through the window.

Mira jumped slightly, nearly dropping the clock.

“Okay, that’s my sign to leave,” she said quickly.

She placed the clock into her bag without thinking.

That night, the storm didn’t stop.

Rain hammered against Mira’s window as she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Sleep wouldn’t come. It hadn’t for days—not since the funeral.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw her grandfather’s smile. Heard his voice.

“Time is strange, Mira,” he used to say. “It gives, and it takes. But never for free.”

She swallowed hard and turned over.

Her bag sat on the chair beside her desk.

For a moment, she thought she saw something glow inside it.

Mira sat up.

“...Okay, I’m definitely imagining things.”

But the glow came again.

Faint.

Flickering.

She got out of bed slowly, her heart beating faster with each step. The room felt colder than before.

When she opened her bag, the glow stopped.

Silence.

“See? Nothing,” she whispered, letting out a shaky breath.

Then,

Tick.

Mira froze.

She looked down.

The clock was running.

“That’s not possible…”

She picked it up again, her fingers trembling slightly. The hands were moving slow, steady, alive.

12:00 AM.

Exactly midnight.

The air in the room shifted.

The rain outside seemed to fade, like someone had turned down the volume of the world.

And then...

A voice.

Soft.

Close.

Right behind her ear.

“What will you trade… for another chance?”

Mira spun around.

“Nope. Nope, nope!”

No one was there.

Her breath came fast now, panic rising in her chest. “I’m just tired. This is just ,this is stress.”

But deep down, she knew.

This wasn’t normal.

This wasn’t stress.

This was something else.

Something waiting.

The clock in her hand suddenly felt heavier.

Warmer.

Alive.

The second hand stopped.

Everything stopped.

And in the silence, Mira heard her own voice

Not from her mouth.

From the clock.

“One hour.”

The world snapped.

Mira gasped.

The rain was gone.

Sunlight streamed through her window.

Birds chirped outside like nothing had ever happened.

She looked around, confused, her heart still racing.

“What…?”

Her eyes landed on her phone.

6:03 PM.

Hours earlier.

The storm hadn’t started yet.

Slowly, her gaze dropped to the clock in her hand.

It ticked softly.

Patiently.

Like it was waiting for her to understand.

Mira’s throat went dry.

“…I didn’t sleep.”

She backed away, shaking her head.

“This isn’t real.”

But even as she said it,

She couldn’t remember something.

Something small.

Something that had been there just a second ago.

A song.

Her favorite song.

She tried to hum it.

Nothing came out.

Mira’s breath hitched.

The clock ticked once more.

And this time,

It almost sounded like a heartbeat.

End of Episode 1

Tell me how it was ...

Hey everyone! 😊

This is my first time writing a story, so I’m really sorry if there are any mistakes. I’m still learning and trying my best. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Thank you for giving my story a chance 💙

Mira didn’t move.

She stood in the middle of her room, frozen, staring at the sunlight spilling across her floor like it had no right to be there.

“This… isn’t real.”

Her voice sounded small.

Wrong.

Just a few seconds ago, no, minutes? it had been night. A storm. Thunder. Midnight.

The clock.

Her hand tightened around it instinctively.

It was still there.

Still ticking.

Slow.

Steady.

Like nothing impossible had just happened.

“No. No, no… think.”

Mira rushed to her desk and grabbed her phone again, her fingers slightly shaking.

6:05 PM.

Same date.

Same everything.

Except,

She remembered the storm.

She remembered midnight.

Didn’t she?

Her breathing quickened.

“If this is a dream, it’s way too detailed…”

She walked to the window and pushed it open.

Warm air rushed in.

No rain.

No thunder.

Just the distant sound of people talking and a dog barking somewhere down the street.

Normal.

Everything was normal.

Except her.

Mira turned back slowly.

Her eyes landed on the clock again.

The cracked glass.

The faint golden glow inside.

And those words…

What will you trade for another chance?

“I didn’t say anything,” she whispered. “I didn’t agree to anything.”

Tick.

The clock answered anyway.

“Okay… okay,” she said, forcing herself to breathe. “Let’s test this.”

If she really went back in time…

Then something from before should still happen.

Something small.

Something she remembered.

Mira closed her eyes, thinking hard.

“Think… think…”

Then,

Her eyes snapped open.

“The glass.”

Downstairs.

At exactly 6:10 PM.

Her little cousin always dropped a glass in the kitchen when she visited.

It happened earlier today.

She remembered it.

Mira didn’t wait.

She ran.

Down the stairs, nearly slipping, her heart pounding louder with every step.

The house smelled like food. Voices echoed from the kitchen.

Her aunt. Her cousin.

Everything exactly as it had been.

Mira stopped at the doorway.

No one noticed her.

Not yet.

Her cousin stood near the counter, holding a glass of juice.

Mira’s pulse raced.

“Five seconds…” she whispered.

4…

3…

2…

“Wait !!”

The glass slipped.

It fell,

And shattered on the floor.

Mira’s breath caught.

The sound echoed in her ears.

Exactly the same.

Every detail.

Every second.

Unchanged.

“I… I knew that would happen,” she said softly.

Her hands began to tremble.

“This is real.”

“Careful!” her aunt scolded, rushing forward. “You always do this ”

Mira wasn’t listening anymore.

She backed away slowly, her thoughts spinning out of control.

I went back.

The clock did this.

I actually went back in time.

A strange mix of fear and excitement rose in her chest.

“If I can go back…” she whispered, “then I can change things.”

Her mind immediately jumped to one person.

Her grandfather.

The hospital.

The last day.

The things she didn’t say.

The things she wished she could fix.

Mira’s grip on the clock tightened.

“Maybe… I can save him.”

The ticking grew louder.

Faster.

Like it had heard her.

Like it was waiting.

Mira hesitated.

Something didn’t feel right.

There had to be a catch.

Things like this didn’t just happen for free.

Nothing did.

Then,

A thought hit her.

Sharp.

Uncomfortable.

She frowned.

“…Wait.”

Something was missing.

She stood still, trying to focus.

There was something she used to know.

Something small.

Something simple.

A melody.

She tried to hum it again.

Nothing.

Just silence.

Her stomach dropped.

“No…”

Mira pressed her fingers to her temple, trying harder.

“I know this. I KNOW this song; ”

But it was gone.

Completely gone.

Like it had never existed.

Her eyes slowly drifted back to the clock.

The glow inside it pulsed softly.

Warm.

Alive.

Hungry.

Mira’s voice barely came out.

“…You took it.”

Tick.

The clock didn’t deny it.

Mira stepped back.

Fear finally settled deep in her chest.

“Time travel… isn’t free.”

Her throat went dry.

“It takes something.”

The second hand stopped again.

Just for a moment.

And in that silence,

The same whisper returned.

Closer this time.

Clearer.

“Every second… has a price.”

Mira shut her eyes tightly.

But she didn’t drop the clock.

She couldn’t.

Because deep down

Even now

Even after everything

She still wanted another chance.

End of Episode 2

Thank you for reading !!

Mira didn’t sleep that night.

She sat on her bed, knees pulled to her chest, staring at the clock resting on her desk.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Each second felt louder than the last.

Like it was reminding her.

You used me.

You paid for it.

“I just went back one hour…” she whispered. “That’s it.”

But it wasn’t just that.

She lost something.

Something small, yes, but important.

Her favorite song.

Gone.

Completely erased.

And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get it back.

Mira stood up slowly and walked toward her desk.

The clock looked harmless again.

Still.

Quiet.

As if it had done nothing wrong.

“You took a memory…” she said, her voice unsteady. “Why that one?”

No answer.

Only silence.

Her eyes narrowed.

“Fine,” she muttered. “Then I’ll figure it out myself.”

She grabbed her notebook and flipped to a blank page.

At the top, she wrote in bold:

TIME LOG

Below it:

Traveled: 1 hour back

Cost: Lost memory (favorite song)

She stared at the words for a moment.

Then added:

Rule (?) → Time travel \= memory loss

Mira exhaled slowly.

“If there are rules… I need to know all of them.”

The next day, she tested it.

Carefully.

This time, she didn’t rush.

She didn’t think about changing anything big.

Just something small.

Something safe.

At exactly 4:00 PM, she placed her pen on the edge of her desk.

She watched it.

Waited.

At 4:01, it rolled off and fell to the floor.

Mira noted the time.

Then she picked up the clock.

Her heart began to race.

“Just one minute,” she whispered. “That’s nothing.”

Her fingers tightened.

The ticking grew louder.

Faster.

And then

Everything stopped.

The world snapped.

4:00 PM.

The pen was back on the desk.

Exactly where it had been.

Mira gasped softly.

“It worked…”

Her eyes lit up for a second

Until she felt it.

That strange emptiness again.

Something slipping away.

She blinked.

“What was I just thinking about?”

Her thoughts felt… incomplete.

Like a sentence cut off halfway.

Mira frowned, trying to focus.

“There was something I needed to do…”

But she couldn’t remember what.

Her stomach dropped.

“No way…”

She grabbed her notebook quickly and wrote:

Traveled: 1 minute back

Cost: Lost a recent thought

Her hand trembled slightly.

“The amount doesn’t matter,” she whispered. “It still takes something.”

Mira slowly looked up at the clock.

This time, something was different.

There were words.

Faint.

Scratched into the bronze surface, just below the glass.

Words she was sure hadn’t been there before.

She leaned closer.

Her breath caught as she read them:

“Time is paid in memories.”

Mira stepped back immediately.

Her heart pounded in her chest.

“You weren’t there before…”

The clock ticked softly.

Like it was pleased she finally understood.

“Time is paid in memories…” she repeated.

Her voice shook.

“So the more I use it…”

“The more I lose.”

A chill ran down her spine.

Because suddenly

It all made sense.

Why the song disappeared.

Why her thoughts felt incomplete.

Why it didn’t feel random.

The clock wasn’t just taking memories.

It was choosing them.

Mira hugged herself tightly.

“Then what happens if I go too far?”

The question hung in the air.

Heavy.

Unanswered.

Her mind drifted again—to her grandfather.

The hospital.

The last moment she wished she could change.

Her chest tightened.

“If I go back that far…”

“What would it take from me?”

The ticking grew louder.

Slower.

Deliberate.

Like a warning.

Mira looked down at the clock one last time.

Fear flickered in her eyes.

But something else was there too.

Determination.

“Memories or not…” she whispered, gripping it tightly,

“I’m not done yet.”

End of Episode 3

Thank you for reading !!