The Time Galaxy

Piggy dislikes doing work. He only loved to laze around the house, staring at the clouds moved past slowly from his window. Other times, he would roll around on his bed.

His mummy had to yell at him to do things every time. “If you keep lazing around, you will be like a clock, tick-tocking away and getting lost in time.” However, piggy was not bothered by what his mum said. He continued wasting his time away.

One day, while piggy was gazing at the sky, as usual, he noticed that it was turning dark. He walked to the window to take a closer look. It was not about to rain, but rather, the sun looked like it had set. “This is strange. It is still early. The sky should not be turning dark like this.” He wondered.

Just then, he heard the ticking sound of the clock getting louder. He turned around to look at the clock. The minute hand and the hour hand started to spin. It spun faster and faster like a turning wheel. The colour of the sky started changing at the same pace as the clock hand from bright golden to blue, red, orange, and black, with occasional shooting stars appearing in the sky.

Suddenly, the clock stopped spinning. Piggy hurried to the window to peer at the sky. He could see the stars and moon. Just then, his mother’s words echoed in his ears, “lost in the sea of time, time, time…” piggy shook his head hard to stop the echo. He regained his composure and thought, “Oh no, I’m lost in the sea of time.” Piggy felt terrified as he did not know what to expect.

The clock slowly opened his eyes and yawned. He squinted at piggy and spoke. “Hi, I’m a timekeeper. Welcome to the sea of time.”

“Hi, I’m Piggy. I’m lost.” Piggy replied timidly.

“Don’t worry. I’m here. Let me bring you on tour in the time sea.” Said the clock. He used his minute hand and held piggy. Together they both went on an exploration.

The time sea looked like a deep blue sea filled with stars, like a dark galaxy.  Many guards looked like clocks in the time sea, but all different shapes and sizes. The guards seemed to be busy doing something. Some were catching fish, while others were patrolling the area.

“Here is the time river.” The timekeeper explained.

The time river was floating in the sea, silvery in colour and seemed endless. There were fishes in different shapes and colours swimming in it. Along the riverbank, many clocks were standing at the side.

“These fishes are pockets of time. We call them the time fish.” The timekeeper clarified before piggy asked.

 “Time fish feed on the wasted time from the world to grow. As they grow bigger, they become dangerous. Our role as timekeeper is to protect the time sea and keep the fishes from escaping.”

Before he finished saying it, a giant fish suddenly leapt out of the time river. It dragged one of the guards into the river and tried to escape. When the other guards saw what happened, they quickly joined hands to save the falling clock.

Using their hour hands, they combined into stronger hands. “Hours become days”, they chanted while using their strength to pull the falling clock guard.

More guards joined in, and the hands grew in size. They tried to block the big fish from escaping. Their minute hands became small arrows that shot at the fish. “We need to reduce the pockets of time in the time fish. There are too many fishes feeding on too much wasted time!” Soon, more clocks connected to build up the strength to save the falling clock guard.

Piggy looked in awe as he watched a battle between the giant time fish and clock guards like a tug of war.

Minutes passed by. The time fish became smaller. Eventually, it gave way and returned to the time river. The clock guards heaved a sigh of relief.

“That was closed! If the time fish escaped, the world of time would be in trouble.” Said the timekeeper.

“Time is precious. We need to be careful about how we spend it. If not, we will create a lot of wasted time. Once it is gone, it will never return.” the timekeeper continued.

Piggy nodded his head in embarrassment when he thought about his actions at home. The timekeeper knew and comforted him. “Do remember to spend your time wisely. However, you can still enjoy gazing at the clouds occasionally. If not, the time fishes will get hungry too.”

Both piggy and the timekeeper laughed.

“Let me send you home.” Said the timekeeper.

Piggy nodded. He had enough of the little adventure and wanted to go home.

The image of time sea instantly swirled and turned like a tornado. Slowly, the picture becomes smaller and smaller until it became a black dot. Piggy was tossed out of the black hole and landed on his bed. Slowly, he stood up and looked at the clock hanging in his room. The timekeeper was gone. There was complete quietness, and everything seemed to be back to normal, with his usual clock hanging on the wall.

Piggy ran to his find his mummy and hugged her. “I will be more mindful of how I spend my time!” Said Piggy.

From then on, piggy became more aware and conscious of time. He made sure he spends his time efficiently and wisely instead of wasting time.  He did his homework and helped out with housework. When piggy finished all his tasks for the day, he would admire the moving clouds outside his window while hearing the sound of the clock ticking, tick-tock, tick-tock…

The End.