Tiny Terror Tuesday: The Clock

What happens when you clock in, but never clock out.

“Finally.” Maya breathes out, “a new job, no more having to worry about bills getting paid on time again.” There’s a new found confidence as she happily walks in to Hamburger Elevator Company. Sure, it’s not as glamorous as her last job as a YouTuber, but times are tough.

She clocks in, and begins her first shift. Johan is the person to show her around tonight, he’s friendly and always had a shortcut he was happy to share. She was overwhelmed with everything she learned, but her dinner break was a great time to breathe out and ask a few more questions.

The break room was a symphony of the humming microwave, idol chit chat, and the humming of florescent lights. Maya looked around, as she ate her chicken salad sandwich. That’s where she saw the old time clock, sitting in the corner. “What’s up with the old time clock?” Maya watched the color leave Johan’s face.

“Umm, we don’t talk about that around here,” he mused with a nervous laugh, “it’s bad luck.”

“Oh come on, why not?” Maya kept pushing, noticing Johan was getting more uncomfortable. “Alright, I’ll drop it.” She laughs.

Johan breathed a sigh of relief. Her shift continues, she finally started getting in the groove right as the final whistle blows. As she goes to clock out with the new digital clock, she noticed some people walking, as if they were in a trance, to the old clock. It was like the clock owned their soul.

She slowly stalks them, observing their movements. Their pace is a shuffle, like they dread even clocking out. Once they clock out, she notices they head through the break room to a cordoned off room. The door is bright yellow, and wears a bright red “RESTRICTED” sign on it. She even notices Johan heading through the door, he looks different, contorted.

She wanted to call to him, but his name died in her throat. “What is it about this damn clock?” She waited until everyone was done clocking out, walked over, and started examining the clock. It looked normal, the brown outside, old stamp system. Then, she looked over to the time cards. It was the name of all her co-workers, their employee numbers look like a specific date. Johan’s was 06221957.