Jake didn't want to take the risk of leaving Matt alone with the clock for any longer. Looking at his watch,
he'd been in there for over half an hour now. It could take another half an hour to talk to the man in the
clock shop by which point he could of died of old age. The morbid thought made him laugh, a man aging to death
in an hour. It sounded so surreal and yet they were faced with the reality! He entered the house and called
out for Matt. He swung open the door to the living room to see he wasn't in there, and neither was the clock.
Confused, he called out again. Then Jake heard a faint grunt coming from the kitchen. He opened the door and
was surprised to find an old man in there. He was even more overweight than himself, and coated in thick
greying hair. He was completely nude, but his rolls of fat covered any undesirable views. His hair was almost
completely gone, some strands still clung to the top in thin patches. He wasn't gone that long, was he? "Is
that you Matt?"
The old man gave another grunt in reply and added "Of course its me. Who were you expecting, Santa?".
"Well, it's not too far off given your belly... How old are you now?"
"I told you earlier I'm 54 years old".
Jake frowned at the response. Earlier? That meant the clock was in the room and still working. Luckily he was
stood out of the room. "Don't you think it's time to turn the clock off now?".
Matt looked confused before saying "What do you mean clock? I haven't seen a clock round here at all".
"You mean you don't know where you left the clock? But it's obviously in the room with you! Get out before you
get any older!"
"You're not making any sense, son. I'll get out when I'm good and ready to!". Matt got back to eating his
pizza, and Jake thought he could see the man's belly grow. He didn't want to go into the room because Matt had
obviously left the clock on its highest setting, but he also didn't want to leave his friend in this
condition. He sighed and forced himself into the room, looking everywhere he thought his friend could of left
it, turning the timer on on his watch so he knew just how old he was getting. Jake looked through cabinets and
drawers and boxes as quick as he could. 5 minutes in, he still had no clue where it could be. He was getting
exasperated, knowing every minute he would be a year older. Matt had finished his pizza now and watched his 50
year old friend looking for something. "Hey, what is it you're looking for again?"
Jake turned to Matt, who looked every bit as 60 as he could, and said "I'm looking for that clock you seemed
to have lost".
Matt thought about it and said "Oh, that clock! I think I remember holding it while making the pizza, but I
don't know what happened to it".
"Well I just hope you haven't eaten it, which is sadly quite possible".
Matt looked his down at his belly, a bit upset. Sure he was very overweight, but he didn't have to be so
cruel. "Fine, I was going to help but now I don't want to".
Jake got back to looking until he'd searched every single place he could think of. He'd even looked in the
refrigerator and the oven in case Matt had misplaced it while making food. He looked at his timer, and 15
minutes had passed since he'd entered the room. His new clothes were now tight, his larger stomach stretching
his shirt. All his hair was white and he felt a vague ache in his legs, but that sort of thing happened now
that he was 60. He looked over at Matt who had fallen asleep in his chair, his face was well aged, a long
white beard stretched down to his saggy man-tits. His belly was swollen and veins were visible. He had liver
spots all over his wrinkled hands and smooth scalp. Why did his 70 year old friend have to lose the clock? He
went over to wake the old man who started up a coughing fit before glaring at Jake. "Why'd ya wake me? I was
having a weird dream where I was a kid who suddenly grew old".
Jake didn't have the heart to tell him it was real, putting an arm around the man's shoulder and lifting him
up to take him out of the room. Matt didn't protest at all. It was then that Jake saw it. Matt was sitting on
the clock this whole time! It still looked intact as well. He dropped the fat man on the floor, who groaned in
pain, and grabbed the clock, fumbling with the back until he heard a click. The clock was off. He could feel
his memories come back to him as he realised how much he'd aged. He joined the man on the floor in groaning,
he was the oldest person in his family now! Matt hadn't faired any better, fearing he'd broken his back from
the fall. It took longer for him to remember what had happened, but he was now in a state of shock. After a
long period of silence, Matt looked at Jake and said "Where did you get the clothes from?". His voice sounded
hoarse and ancient.
Jake replied "Well you see, on my way to the clock shop, my neighbour stopped me and asked if I wanted any
clothes. He gave me some, and then some food, and I still haven't gone to the clock shop yet. Oh don't look so
shocked, you left me for the same reason! At least I came back before going to the shop or you'd still be in
here getting older. How could you not even feel that clock under your ass?"
Matt was too tired to argue. He just wanted to go to sleep but his back was keeping him alert. Now he knew how
his granddad felt whenever he woke him up. It was a terrible feeling. "Well can't you just take the clock to
the shop now? I'll just stay here and rest". Jake just nodded and helped his friend onto the sofa before
leaving, and Matt fell asleep.
Jake looked about to make sure Graham wasn't out again and walked to the shop, trying to ignore the pain he
felt in his right leg with every step. It wasn't long before he reached the shop and entered, the sound of
ticking everywhere. The man who served him yesterday was at the counter again. He walked up to him and said
"Excuse me, I purchased this clock from you the other day and I need some help with it."
"Oh, not able to set the time yourself? Don't worry you just take this little knob and turn..." he paused,
realising exactly what clock this was and then looked at the 60 year old man in front of him. He still had
those young eyes. "Oh my, you used the aging function on this clock? Didn't I warn you not to go too far with
that? Now look, you could be my older brother now if we were related. Didn't you think things through?"
Jake shrunk back at the man's harsh words before stammering "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to your
warnings because I thought I already knew how to work a clock, I didn't even think it could age someone. I
know it my fault I'm 50 years older now, but it's not just me, my friend's also been affected and he's 70
years old now! Surely there's a way we can get younger. Anything. I don't want to be a grandfather yet".
The shopkeeper thought it through and said "I'm sorry sir, but there's nothing you can do with the clock to
make you younger. It only ages you. The effects are normally temporary, but the more you use it, you run into
the risk of the changes becoming permanent, especially from doing something like gaining 50 years in a few
hours. You both will just have to hope that you'll be younger by tomorrow morning, or else I know of a nice
retirement home nearby".
Jake was depressed at the news, he could be an old man for the rest of his life, which was now severely
shortened. Matt was even worse for wear, he already looked gravely ill. He might not even make it to the end
of the year. "Well isn't there another clock or gizmo that could help us both?".