Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The warm breeze of late spring carried the scent of Cornflower past the spire of the clock tower. Arthur stood before the rusted iron railing, his fingertips tracing the moss sprouting in the cracks of the stone bricks. This time last year, the air was thick with the smell of scorched earth, but now green grass peeked out from the craters, swaying its fuzzy tufts in the evening sun.
"Mr. Arthur!" A child's shrill voice rang out from Street Corner. Five little girls with blue ribbons rushed toward him like a whirlwind, eagerly stuffing wild berry pies into his arms. The youngest one tiptoed to reach his mechanical pocket watch, but her attempts only made him lift it higher, causing her to bounce in place, the copper bells tied in her braids jingling merrily.
Lily leaned out from the second-floor window of Town Hall, sunlight weaving golden threads through her chestnut curls. She held a copy of the still-drying Energy Symbiote Operation Manual, its cover smeared with maple syrup cookies that the bakery owner had insisted she take. "Old George is bragging at the tavern again, saying you smashed three Mechanical Guardians with a wrench last year." She laughed, her eyes crinkling at the corners, momentarily overlapping with Arthur's memory of a trembling girl clutching a toolbox.
The ticking of the Pendulum suddenly thickened. Arthur gazed at the Bronze Monument in Central Square, where gears and wheat were forever entwined in metal. Embedded beneath the pedestal was a piece of glowing blue Crystal that projected the faces of three hundred sixty townsfolk at dusk—including that old bartender who always added an extra spoonful of sugar to his coffee.
"The newly cultivated Moonlight Clover has bloomed," Lily tugged at his sleeve, leading him eastward. The sound of linen brushing against itself reminded him of that swaying oil lamp when they first met. A soft purple glow hovered in the Experimental Field, where a Mechanical Hummingbird hovered mid-air, its tail feathers refracting rainbows. She crouched down and parted the leaves: "The roots are embedded with miniature reactors that can purify soil and provide power."
The tolling of the Evening Bell startled a flock of white doves as they flew past the neon sign of the cinema. A life-sized holographic poster stood at the entrance, featuring an actor portraying him with exaggerated metallic Artificial Eyes, battling "Lily" for an energy core. Gasps from the audience echoed from within, just as real as the frothy beer wafting from the tavern.
On the Oak Table in Town Hall Office lay cooperation agreements in seven languages, Sealing Wax printed on parchment blooming like roses. Lily tapped on a glass cabinet with a screwdriver; inside was preserved that fateful Rusty Gear: "A group of scholars came last month for an inspection and insisted this was an artifact from an ancient civilization." She winked mischievously, wearing Star-Shaped Earrings polished from reactor fragments.
As dusk deepened, they climbed to the clock tower; the rhythm of interlocking gears was much gentler than before. Suddenly, Lily tugged at her collar, revealing faint golden Energy Patterns beneath her Clavicle: "After evolving an emotional module, Energy Symbiotes sometimes dream of starry skies." Her fingertips brushed against Arthur's mechanical limb, sending ripples of blue light across its metallic surface.
As the last rays of sunlight sank below the horizon, a Steam Train sounded its Steam Whistle. Arthur slung his well-worn Leather Toolbox over his shoulder, its corners adorned with wildflower necklaces strung by local children. The platform was piled high with apple chips wrapped in recycled paper; Old George secretly slipped a bottle of homemade Cherry Brandy into his coat pocket.
In that moment when the tracks trembled, Arthur caught sight of stars twinkling atop the clock tower through the train window. Lily's silhouette transformed into a shadow against the twilight; her waving arms were entwined with shimmering Energy Threads, as if she were orchestrating the heartbeat of the entire town. As distant mountains blurred into obscurity, he felt something metallic in his pocket—a rusted Screw that had once jammed his Fate Gear now polished into a crescent shape.
The sound of the Steam Whistle startled night-roosting larks as Arthur opened his yellowed notebook resting on his knees. The latest page held a crumpled Candy Wrapper depicting a hat-wearing Mechanic and a girl in overalls drawn in crooked lines. On its reverse side was Lily's handwriting: "Next time you come back, remember to take West Gate; Aunt Mary says she wants you to try her 38th generation apple pie improvement."
As stars began to rise, the train rolled into plains blooming with Moonlight Clover. Arthur's pocket watch lid sprang open to reveal a newly engraved Town Emblem: a Grain Ear embraced by gears with an Azure Bronze Sparrow poised to take flight. As the second hand swept past twelve o'clock, distant Silent Valley erupted into a sky full of fireflies, as if thousands of miniature reactors were gently bursting in the night.
Comment 0 Comment Count