The Old Clock That Never Stopped
On the edge of a village stood an old railway station that nobody used anymore. The trains had stopped coming a time ago and plants had started growing all over the building.. There was one thing that still worked. A big old clock hanging above the empty platform.. The weird thing was that it just kept on ticking.
The people who lived in the village thought the clock was special.
Every evening an old man named Ibrahim would walk to the station with a lantern. He would sit down on a bench look up at the clock and smile. Then he would get up. Leave without saying anything.
One day a curious kid named Arif asked him why he did this every day.
Why do you come here every day? Arif asked Ibrahim.
Ibrahim looked up at the clock before he answered.
I come here because it reminds me that good things can still happen, even when nothing seems to be happening " he said.
Arif did not understand what he meant.
So Ibrahim told him a story. He said that a time ago he used to work at the station. He would meet people who came from away. One summer a young woman named Salma got off the train. She had a bag and a big dream. She wanted to be a teacher.
Ibrahim helped Salma find a place to live and introduced her to the people at the school. After a while she became one of the teachers around.
Years later Ibrahim and Salma got married.
For thirty years they would meet at the station every Friday evening. It was something they always did.
Then one winter Salma got very sick.
Before she died she asked Ibrahim to promise her something.
"Remember all the times we had not just the sad times " she said.
So Ibrahim kept going to the station every evening. He did not think someone would show up. It made him feel happy instead of sad.
Arif listened to the story.
The day Arif came back with a camera and started taking pictures of the old station. He put the pictures online. Told Ibrahims story.
A lot of people read it. Thousands and thousands.
Soon people started visiting the station. The people in the village fixed the benches painted the walls and planted flowers.
Someone even fixed the clock.
When everything was done the village had a party. Ibrahim stood under the clock with tears in his eyes.
I thought nobody cared about this place anymore he said.
An old woman, in the crowd smiled.
Places can be forgotten " she said. The stories we tell about them are not.
A months later the old station was turned into a library and a museum. Kids would come to read travelers would stop to rest. Families would meet there every weekend.
The old clock was still ticking away above the door.
It was not magic that made it tick.
It was a reminder that time keeps moving memories stay with us and it is always worth waiting for good things to happen.
The End.
