“The Boardman Watches”
- Duke Lott
- Aug 1, 2025
- 3 min read
Another day in Michigan. Jack wakes up
next to Rebecca in his king-sized bed,
enjoying the morning after a fancy night in
the condo.
Rebecca talks about her uncomfortable
encounter with Nathaniel when she visited
her sister.
She insists,
"Jack, it's time. You must talk to him."
"Oh, come on, Rebecca, you know how
Nathaniel is. We're good friends. I assure
you, he would never intentionally make you
uncomfortable."
He insists there’s nothing to worry about
and if things get out of hand, he’ll take care
of it.
Jack gets out of bed, slips on his robe, and
walks to his office. He opens a drawer and
pulls out the same pocket watch Nathaniel
has.
Jack says to himself, "Time to change
history."
His phone rings, Unknown Caller.
"Hello? Who's this?"
An unfamiliar voice replies, "Not the right
time to tell. Meet me at Oakley and Sunset
Ave. Don't be late."
"What nonsense, stop fooling around."
"Would be good to obey. P.S., if you use the
watch, I'll know."
"Hey, how do you know" The call cuts off
from the other end.
Jack stands, intensely startled. He has
questions unanswered.
Who was that person? How do they know
about the watch, when even Rebecca is
unaware of this secret?
He tells Rebecca he has an urgent meeting.
"Good luck," she says, heading out to start
her day.
Somewhere in Michigan in the future:
The weather today is strange. The sky is
black as tar.
Nathaniel appears. His hair is shoulder-
length, his body broader and stronger. He
stares into the sky, smoking a Lucky Lights
cigarette pulled from his long, dark coat. A
cold breeze blows through the night as he
stands outside the gates of a compound
guarded by armed men and tall concrete
walls.
Biscuit runs up to him, licks his hand, and
lets out a bark
A man stands a few feet behind, saluting.
Nathaniel turns and welcomes him
"Good morning, Simon," he says. The man's
tag reads Thorne.
"That's General Thorne to you," says Simon
with a serious face, followed by a light
chuckle.
"This war has gotten out of hand," explains
the General, who is second-in-command to
Nathaniel in the rebellion against Mr.
Henderson’s Hourglass Army.
"Time is like a stream of water. No matter
the ripples made, it all meets the same end.
The past is an absolute point. There’s no
way we can change it."
"I can't... but... maybe they can," Nathaniel
replies, hinting at their younger selves.
Rebecca wakes up in Jack's mansion
overlooking Suttons Bay, Michigan. The
king-sized bed offers more than enough
room for the couple. She glances at her
wedding band before stepping out.
Jack is already up, speaking to the man
leading his army.
" How come you haven’t found it yet? It’s
been four years that you’ve been digging."
"There’s only so much dirt in this state. Find
it soon or I’ll get someone who can. And
you’ll be lying in a grave dug from the same
dirt you’ve been searching through."
Jack is no longer an ordinary man. He runs
the United States, the wealthiest and most
powerful of all.
Years ago, Jack learned about the "Black
Watch", a mysterious pocket watch marked
with an infinity sign. It’s said that whoever
possesses this watch gains complete control
over time... even the absolute points.
Jack is hunting for it, and so is Nathaniel.
Both want to change an absolute point.
That’s where their friendship turned into a
rivalry.
Nathaniel once traveled back in time to tell
his younger self about a woman with a black
pocket watch. She buried it somewhere.
Back to Present Day:
It’s sunny and 64 degrees. Jack sits on a
bench awaiting the mysterious caller. He
glances at his Rolex, a $36,000 watch, time
ticking away.
He waits another five minutes, then gets up
and looks around.
Just as he starts to head back home, he feels
a gaze from afar, a figure watching him.
A woman.
She has shallow cheeks, a maroon trench
coat, thick brown hair pulled back into a
ponytail, dark blue jeans, and retro-style
sunglasses.
She picks up her phone.
“He’s here. We got it.”
Jack returns to his condo, only to find the
pocket watch missing.
He panics.
Nathaniel must have taken it.
He storms out, determined to find him.
Meanwhile, the same woman from the park
reaches into her left coat pocket and
carefully places Jack’s watch back inside.
Then she takes out the Black Watch, the
one Jack had been searching for all along.
CLICKS.
She whispers,
“Silly boys. I am Time.”
And vanishes into a dark cloud of smoke.
Copyright ©️ 2025 by Duke Lott
** Identities of Characters & Names have been omitted to Protect the Story & Storylines.
Such a provocative, thought-provoking piece.