The clock that counted backwards

 

 The Clock That Counted Backwards — Experimental Short Story #3

From the series: 60 Experimental Short Stories
farazparvez1.blogspot.com

A Journey Against Time: Experimental Narrative Reimagined
In the realm of conventional storytelling, time flows forward—like a river destined to reach the ocean. But what if time rebelled? What if memory outran chronology and cause danced behind effect? Welcome to the third installment in our trailblazing series, 60 Experimental Short Stories, where narrative laws are bent, logic is questioned, and the reader is invited to inhabit a world that challenges form and meaning alike.

Today’s story, "The Clock That Counted Backwards," is a surreal and metaphysical journey wrapped in the folds of psychological time travel. It is not science fiction. It is not a ghost story. It is something in between: a whispering meditation on regret, inevitability, and the mystery of memory itself.

The Clock That Counted Backwards

On his seventy-ninth birthday, Dr. Anwar Bukhari, a retired physicist known more for his brooding silence than brilliance, received an anonymous parcel wrapped in yellowing paper. Inside lay an antique pocket watch, still ticking. But something was strange—it counted backward.

23:59:57…
23:59:56…
23:59:55…

He blinked. Surely a trick. Surely a joke from a long-forgotten student.

But that night, as he drifted into sleep, Anwar found himself in his old university laboratory, young again, chalk in hand, scrawling equations on a blackboard with reckless passion. No cane. No tremor. His wife, Saira, still alive—still humming that Lata Mangeshkar tune from their courtship. The room smelt of dust, ozone, and hope.

Every morning that followed, he awoke younger.

His knees unbent. His spine straightened. His memory sharpened. The world outside, however, aged. Newspapers reported days in reverse. Calendar pages tore backward. Even his neighbors began to forget who he was.

By day thirty, he was thirty years old. Saira, now resurrected, whispered to him from mirrors and photo frames.

By day ten, he was ten. And Saira was a bedtime story, sung in lullabies.

By the final day, Anwar lay in a crib, cooing at a ceiling fan spinning counterclockwise.

And then—nothing.

Only the clock. Still ticking. Still counting.

Analysis: Breaking the Mold of Time and Narrative

This short story disrupts linear storytelling not only in content but in form. By choosing reverse chronology, the story presents memory as more trustworthy than reality and loss as a slow unraveling rather than an abrupt rupture. The central object—the backward-counting clock—is both literal and metaphorical: a symbol of regret, of unfulfilled equations, and of the human desire to undo.

In traditional narrative arcs, the climax is followed by resolution. But here, resolution precedes climax. Life regresses toward the womb, evoking T.S. Eliot’s lines: “In my beginning is my end.”

Such experimental stories unmoor the reader and force reflection. Who are we without our timeline? What if time forgave? Or forgot?

A Word to Our Readers

This story is the third entry in our 60-story experimental series—an ambitious literary endeavor celebrating the strange, the beautiful, and the structurally rebellious. Every story will dare to challenge one narrative norm—whether through form, voice, structure, or perspective.

We invite our readers, old and new, to join this creative odyssey. Whether you're a student of literature, a passionate writer, or a lover of all things peculiar, this series is yours.

Soon, these stories will be compiled into a free eBook edition followed by a beautiful hard copy collector’s volume. Stay with us. Share your thoughts. Tell others. And keep visiting:

farazparvez1.blogspot.com
Where words rebel, and stories remember.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The rise and fall of imran Khan niazi... A satirical essay

Image
  The Rise and Fall of Imran Khan Niazi: From The Establishment’s Golden Boy to The Fallen Messiah Written by Faraz Parvez Pen Name of Professor Dr. Arshad Afzal Former Faculty Member, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, KSA There are few figures in contemporary politics as paradoxical as Imran Khan Niazi. A man whose political career reads like a tragicomedy, a cricketing hero who tried to bowl out corruption but ended up hitting his own wickets. Once the beloved poster boy of the establishment, now the self-styled revolutionary with a martyr complex—his journey is the stuff of a Shakespearean farce, with generous doses of slapstick and irony. The Saviour Who Needed Saving Once upon a time, Imran Khan was the chosen one . The establishment cradled him like a newborn prince, whispering sweet nothings of ‘Naya Pakistan’ into his ears. He was the hero with an Oxford degree, a World Cup trophy, and a playboy past that magically transformed into Islamic piety overnight. The masses, ...
Read more

The dying whispers of bhera haveli

Image
  Title: “The Dying Whispers of Bhera Haveli” Theme: In a forgotten corner of Punjab, where time stopped and shadows moved without reason, a cursed haveli holds a horrifying secret. What happens when someone hears the whispers that should have stayed buried? By Faraz Parvez Professor Dr. (Retired) Arshad Afzal Retired Faculty Member, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, KSA (Pseudonym of Professor Dr. Arshad Afzal) The Dying Whispers of Bhera Haveli Based on chilling oral tales from the subcontinent's dust-ridden ruins... In the neglected outskirts of Bhera , an ancient town once glorious in its Mughal past, there stands a crumbling haveli, twisted like a half-dead serpent among the eucalyptus and sheesham trees. The villagers call it “Khooni Haveli”—The Mansion of Blood. No one lives there. No one dares to enter. Except Tariq. He was a small-time real estate broker from Faisalabad. He dealt in disputed lands and run-down buildings, flipping ghost stories into desperate...
Read more

The evolution of the modern Urdu novel

Image
  The Evolution of the Modern Urdu Novel: A Literary Renaissance Urdu literature, with its rich poetic heritage and profound storytelling traditions, has continuously evolved to reflect the changing landscapes of South Asia and beyond. While Urdu poetry has long been celebrated for its lyrical beauty, it is the Urdu novel that has captured the essence of social, political, and psychological transformations over the past century. From the didactic realism of Deputy Nazir Ahmed to the avant-garde narratives of Mirza Athar Baig , the Urdu novel has transformed from a medium of moral instruction to an art form that challenges political structures, psychological paradigms, and literary conventions . Today, Urdu novelists are addressing themes of globalization, migration, gender dynamics, and existentialism , making the Urdu novel an indispensable part of world literature. From Classic to Contemporary: A Shifting Paradigm The birth of the Urdu novel can be traced back to the 1...
Read more