In the town of Downtime, a story between three friends has begun to be written in the indelible ink of true friendship. Jenna, Carol and Frank, three bold and dynamic children who met at a children's party, and which became the starting point from which they have been able to intertwine a beautiful relationship, despite the fact that behind each of them there was a wound that they have not been able to overcome, finding refuge only in the love and support they have for each other.
Frank, the oldest of the three, is a boy who was adopted by a couple who have made an effort to give him the love that his real parents could not give him, since he was found alone in a bus station, where he was supposedly abandoned. Carol is an attractive and intelligent girl who in her beauty and smile hides a bitter sadness: the death of her twin sister, something that for no reason makes her feel guilty. And finally we have Jenna, the most reckless of the three, and who only seems to be unveiled by an idea that does not leave her head: How long am I going to live?
Despite this, Carol, Jenna and Frank have managed to move forward based on an unbreakable friendship that has led them to enjoy many anecdotes and experiences full of fears, laughter and joy. There is not an afternoon in which these three children do not invent some mischief, especially in a town where the other children do not seem to have the same free spirit of these three and that sometimes also got them into trouble.
In fact, that would become evident when on a dark and cloudy afternoon they decided to go into a forest near the village.
-Let's go! There's sure to be an adventure waiting for us," exclaimed Jenna as she pulled the other two by the hand.
And just before they could resist, a rather old and battered house appeared, as if all the years had passed over it.
-That house must be haunted," Frank said as Carol laughed out loud at her friend's cowardice.
So, between fears and doubts, the three of them decided to enter at the same time and see what was inside. A long wooden hallway led right to the front door, and the creaking of the steps these young people were taking was inevitable.
-Carol again startled her friends with grace and mischief.
Already being in the main courtyard, and just as they knocked on the door a sign lit up in front of them: "The clock house. A place where you enter with courage and leave with the color of your soul". And immediately the door itself disappeared, as a very tall, slender maiden on tiptoe hurried up.
-It's a ghost! It's a ghost! This house is haunted!" they shouted almost in one voice as they ran in haste.
At last they got as far as their strength would carry them, and when they found themselves far from the house, they decided to stop. The impact was so great that they decided to keep the secret and never speak about the existence of that house, until Jenna in a defiant tone decided to make a pact with her friends, in order to return when they are adults and do not feel any fear. Frank and Carol refused, but after a few hours they agreed to that pact of friendship.
It was many years in which each of them went their own way, without forgetting their bonds of friendship that now they only kept at a distance through messages and calls. The death of an important character of Downtime made them come back and be together again, remembering old times of their happy childhood.
-Remember that pact we made to return to the strange house in the woods? whispered Carol.
-I thought they had forgotten about it," Frank answered hesitantly.
-It's a pact in the name of our friendship," said Jenna as she blew on a cup of coffee.
And so after an intense discussion on the subject, Carol, Jenna and Frank decided to go back to that place.
-It could be the best or the worst decision of my life," Frank said over and over again as they headed back to the house.
And just as if that house was waiting for them, it appeared once again, having the same color and the same facade, just as they remembered it. There wasn't as much fear as that time when they were just kids, but the atmosphere felt a little tense, and even more so when they saw that the door was still open.
-Let's go through together at the same time- and saying this, Jenna pushed Carol and Frank, who, wanting to claim something, saw another sign: "Welcome to the clock house. Twelve steps, three rooms, one destination." And just as they finished reading those instructions, the maid who once shooed them away now made them advance exactly four steps to reach the first room.
With that, the maid again caught up with the young men and said, "The past often spills over the facade of your future." And without further ado she ushered Jenna and Carol forward, leaving Frank in the first room.
-What is the meaning of all this?" cried Carol helplessly, until the second room was lit up, and as if it were a vast golden sea, a beautiful princess could be seen in the distance, swimming back and forth, happy to be in a world where there was no crying, no pain, no suffering. A medal on her chest shone like the sun, until a flashing name appeared: "Rose," the name of Carol's twin sister. For a long time she thought her sister was suffering in death, but the room revealed the reality of a beautiful dream.
-Eight steps have already been taken, only one visitor remains!" boomed the voice of the maid to guide Jenna to the last room.
Jenna simply closed her eyes in tears, as she saw what her friends were experiencing, she understood what was coming, the answer to her big question "How long will I live?" And although Jenna did not take her hands off her face, it was impossible not to hear the flame of a warm fire, one that without wood or fuel would not let itself be extinguished. The wind was blowing and the rain was pouring, but the campfire kept growing more and more alive. So Jenna crossed her tears with a smile, just in time to hear the mysterious maiden: "Future, what's the storm for if you never come as you think?" And so with the twelve steps, the host and master of the house rang the great bell.
The maid at last closed the door, and Carol, Jenna and Frank were outside, running without knowing why. The wind stopped them to give them a great surprise, for they were not adults but children like the ones they once became. Did the house bring them back once more to the past, or was that first visit enough to show them something of their future? What was truly a reality was that that place healed the wounds that each one of them carried with them. As children, surely no one would understand or believe what these three friends experienced, so the best decision they made was to seal this secret in honor of their friendship as "the pact of the clock house".
THE END.
