Repairs
A fifty word short story
The cup of coffee cooled.
Steam dissipated in the morning air like fading memories.
“It’s about time I went back.”
She didn’t understand. How could she?
He’d been away too long. There were repairs to be made.
A watchmaker in Hong Kong was waiting for him.
The past needed adjusting.
So, the inspiration for this story came from an unusual place.
My good friend, Nathan Slake, who lives in Melbourne, Australia shared a conversation he overheard in a coffee shop about someone who was flying to Hong Kong, for the day, to collect a watch. Now, to Nathan, and the barista in the coffee shop, this seemed extreme. Particularly as the time it takes to fly from Melbourne to Hong Kong is about 10 hours. That then got me thinking. What could possibly be so special about a watch that someone would travel all that distance? A 20 hour round trip of about nine thousand miles. All that time and all that travelling …..
Anyway, this is what I came up with. Hope you enjoyed it.
Thanks for reading. Until next time.


I was thinking: it had to be some watch!
Inspiration can often come from very simple things. It doesn't take much to get the imagination working.