for The Unicorn Challenge which is brought to us by Jenne Gray and C.E.Ayr.
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I have a modest little shop on a backstreet where people pop in when their watches need new batteries and straps.
Sometimes I repair proper watches, ones which go tick-tock. I love nothing more than peering at intricate mechanisms through my trusty old magnifying glass. I occasionally get to fiddle with clocks, big ones, small ones, but never before had I been offered a job like this!
I’d been contacted by the Dean of the cathedral. For years I’d gazed in awe at the splendid clock atop the tower, never imagining I’d one day get my hands on it! All it needed was servicing, something carried out every fifty years.
I arrived at the cathedral, explained to one of the visitor guides who I was and asked for directions to the tower. Minutes later, I started the long climb to the top.
My goodness, it was steep. I hadn’t got far before my knees started complaining. Half an hour later, I was out of breath, my heart beating like a drum. But I carried on regardless. ‘This might be the last thing I ever do’, I said to myself, ‘but what a way to go’!
When I reached the belfry, I fell to the floor, exhausted. It was then my phone rang. It was the Dean asking where I was. Apparently, the clock I was employed to service was not the one at the top but the ancient timepiece down below in the vestry.
I started the long climb down…
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Click to enlarge the pic!
I do believe this is Arras, a favourite town of mine where I enjoyed many a fine meal in the square during my years living in Northern France. The view from the belfry is amazing and well worth the climb!
‘f I’m not mistaken, this is Arras, one of my favourite French towns where I enjoyed many a fine meal in the square during my years living in Northern France. The view from the belfry is amazing and well worth the climb!
Awesome! Yes, sometimes one hears what one wants to believe…ending us in the wrong place after a steep climb.
I like the quickened pace of the story that you crafted with your word choices… I could actually “see” him, huffing and puffing, climbing the stairs. Nicely done, Keith.
One does indeed, Suzette! Thanks for huffing and puffing along with me!
Lol…!
Oh!!!)
I used a slightly stronger word than that!
When I went to Europe in 1969, my friend and I climbed to the top of everything. Notre Dame, Pisa Tower, Vatican… You certainly made me chuckle when I read this. Nice.
What’s a trip without a climb? The Vatican was quite a challenge, especially near the top where the walls slope inwards! Delighted to have amused you Denise!
Hopefully you were paid by the hour and not the task.
I was paid in groats which went out of circulation in 1856!
It is indeed Arras, mon vieux, and the view is everything you say it is.
But did you visit the souterraines, the tunnels below the town?
I mention them in my story, they are quite astounding.
And long ago:
https://anelephantcant.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/souterraines-homesick-bleus/
PS Good story!
Now you come to mention it, I have visited the tunnels although the memories are a little vague as it would have been over 30 years ago! Thanks for the link. It’s only a day trip away for me so I really ought to pay Arras another visit just for old times’ sake..
The view from the belfry compensated for the hard climb.
I can assure you it does, Sadje.
🫶🏼⭐️
Fun piece, Keith. Reminded me of when my wife and I visited La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. You can get a lift to the top but, unless you have a disability, you have to walk down a seemingly never-ending spiral stairway with no handrail. 😉
Oh dear! I was exhausted with him by the climb. Good story, Keith. Very human. We hear what we want to hear…
Oh, well, maybe the big clock in the tower will need its servicing soon. He might want to give himself an hour just to take the stairs, very slowly.
I’m picturing medics rushing to the belfry and carrying him down on a stretcher. Wouldn’t that be a fun way down!