Rishi couldn't stop thinking about the note.
DON'T LET IT NEAR YOU.
Who wrote it?
Who knew what was happening to him?
And what was "IT"?
The watch?
The shadow from his nightmare?
Or something he hadn't seen yet?
That evening, he kept the pocket watch in his hoodie pocket and walked to the terrace.
He needed fresh air.
He needed space to think.
The sunset painted the sky orange, and for a moment, everything felt normal.
Until it wasn't.
---
The Sound That Shouldn't Exist
Tick.
Rishi froze.
The sound came from inside his pocket.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick—tick—tick.
The ticking grew faster.
His heart unintentionally matched its rhythm:
thump—thump—thump, quick and anxious.
Rishi clutched the watch. "Calm down… calm down…"
But the watch didn't calm down.
It heated under his fingers like someone placed a burning coin in his hand.
His heartbeat shot up.
He stumbled backward. "Stop—don't—"
The world blurred.
The terrace melted away.
The sky folded like a page turning.
The wind vanished.
Before he could breathe, the ground beneath him changed.
---
The Memory He Forgot
Rishi blinked.
He was standing in… a park?
A small, familiar park with bright blue swings, soft grass, and a rusted slide.
Children were running around with ice creams.
Mothers were chatting.
Someone was blowing soap bubbles.
Rishi staggered.
"Wait… this place—"
He knew this park.
He came here when he was small.
But he hadn't been here in years.
He looked down.
He wasn't small.
He was his present self.
But everyone else…
They were part of a memory.
A boy ran past him holding a football.
Rishi's eyes widened.
The boy looked exactly like him.
Tiny.
Six years old.
With the same haircut his mom forced him to get back then.
Child-Rishi ran toward the swings, laughing.
Rishi's breath trembled.
"This is… my past. Not yesterday. My actual childhood."
The pocket watch ticked softly, almost satisfied.
---
The Missing Moment
He followed his childhood self cautiously.
What was he supposed to see here?
Nothing scary had happened in this park.
Nothing dramatic.
Just a normal childhood day.
Or—that's what he thought.
Child-Rishi suddenly stopped running.
He stared at something near the big banyan tree.
Adult Rishi walked closer.
A man stood under the tree.
Not a parent.
Not someone familiar.
A tall figure in a long coat.
Face hidden by shadows.
Rishi felt a jolt of fear.
The same silhouette from his nightmare.
Watching.
Waiting.
Still.
Child-Rishi tilted his head innocently, confused but not scared.
The shadowed man lifted a hand—
slowly—
and pointed at the child.
Rishi's heart dropped.
"No—don't go near him!"
But no one could hear him.
He wasn't part of the memory.
Just an observer.
The shadow figure whispered something.
Rishi couldn't hear it.
Only the sound of ticking again.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The watch in Rishi's pocket burned.
His heartbeat exploded again.
The world shattered.
The park broke into pieces of light.
And Rishi was thrown out of the memory.
---
Back to the Terrace
He landed on the terrace floor with a rough thud.
His hands were shaking.
His breathing uneven.
The watch cooled instantly.
Rishi stared at it, horrified.
That man.
That shadow.
He was real.
He existed in Rishi's childhood.
And he was somehow connected to the watch.
The note made sense now:
DON'T LET IT NEAR YOU.
Something from his past —
something dangerous —
had just found him again.