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The watch


âAn Introductionâ
Time can pass fast when you are doing something you like and it can also pass really slow when you do something you think is boring for example 5 minutes can pass without us realizing when we are having fun or talking or sitting doing nothing and it can also change your life for ever when you do an action or say a word or be late for a meeting or even missing the bus all these actions happen to us all and we think that it is alright, but as a matter of fact it isnât always alright and here comes the problem which is neglecting how important time is and that those 5 minutes can turn our lives upside-down or just pass without any thing happening, but either way you have wasted 5 minutes of your life that can never be replaced.









Chapter one âHouse number 1"
On the morning of a perfect Monday a box, a simple black box with some white strips on it as it was a very nice box that some one has put on the doors of three very different houses where three very different men lived.
The first house was occupied by a very wealthy man who inherited all the money from his father who some people say that he could turn sand into gold as he started his life at a restaurant where he washed dishes and then bit by bit he became a waiter then the head waiter, and one day the restaurant was going to be sold as the owner died and his heirs wanted to sell it so, he bought the restaurant from them and bit by bit he began opening more restaurants and opened a food factory and he at that time had nearly 100 restaurant across the country and abroad and his factory began exporting food to other countries and he made a food empire that was called â The food choir â and his famous quote â Food is the only art in the world that all nations understand and relate to. â
When he died all his money was given to his no good irresponsible son âJamesâ who was just good at having fun and going to parties and of course had no respect for time , so on that morning when the man woke up he opened the door and he found the box and when he opened it he found a black metal watch with a golden strip in the middle and in itâs middle there were two golden analogs , but even to him as a very rich guy he found the watch just for no regular reason very prestigious .
So he just wore it as he was going to his weekly visit to his company and he looked at the watch which said that it was 10:10 am, so he went and rod his black very elegant Bugatti veyron and just drove and arrived at the company at 10:35 am and went into the front door where every one sitting was just looking very amazed as this was the first time that he had ever went there before noon and the reason for that was he was leaving for a week on a vacation with some of his so called friends, so he went up to the office of the best friend and the brother in law of his father who was also the head that was running the most successful food company in city and one of the richest corporations in the world, and when he got in his uncle threw a newspaper on his desk which had Jamesâs picture while partying in a club with some girls and drinking and his uncle said â Making a fool out of your self, driving drunk, sleeping with worthless women who only have one pleasure which is money and giving your money to your so called useless friends maybe alright for you, but it is bad for the business and your father would have had a heart attack if he had lived long enough to see what you have turned into and your deceased mother wont have been so proud either â and the only response that he said was â I donât care about your fake interest in my life or what I do with my money which was made by my father just do your job and donât you worry about how my parents would have felt because they are gone and they arenât coming back any time soon â and he went straight out of the door downstairs into his car and went back to his house where his friends were waiting for him and when he told them about what happened and that he felt sad for talking to his uncle like that they just told him that his uncle had no right to talk to him like that and told him just cool down and take a sniff -of you know what - and you will be just fine and he did, they stayed for a while and went on their one week vacation.



Chapter two âHouse number 2â
On the same morning in front of house number 2 lived a man âMr. Georgeâ with a small 10 year old beautiful girl who had skin white as snow, her hair was light blond like the color of the sun when it is rising and her eyes were blue like the color of hydrangeas flowers , his wife had died in an accident when his daughter was only 4 years old and he did the best he can to raise his daughter well, but then came the day when he took his daughter the doctor as she had been having headaches and the doctor told him the next day when he went to see the results âWill Mr. George I have some bad news for you as your daughter has a brain tumor, but it is still in an early stage and can be removed by surgery and it must be fast before it gets worseâ.
The man went out from the doctorâs clinic without saying any thing and went to his house where his daughter was waiting for him with a smile a very innocent smile on her lovely little face and he hugged her and cried and the only thought that went through his mind was âwhy????â why her, why did this happen to his little girl and why did god do that to him.â
So, on that Monday he was going for a job interview as he was working in a small supermarket in his area as an accountant , but now he has to find a better job to afford his daughterâs treatment that was needed very fast, so he was going for a job interview as an accountant for a big company, and when he opened the door he found the box and opened it to find the watch and said that the time was 9:25 am he looked around him to try and find who left the box ,but found no one so he wore the very elegant watch and said good bye to his daughter and to his sister that was looking after her and left.
He had to go fast as his interview was at 10:00 am, so he took his car which was a 1986 Mustang notchback and went to the address and arrived there at 9:45 am, got into the huge company which was named âFood choirâ so the secretary told him to go to the top floor, he got up and they told him to wait.
He waited and at 10:10 am they told him to go in after 25 minutes of waiting, so when he got in he found the head manger of the company and he said âwill I have seen your results and they look very good, but just may I ask what would make a company hire a 35 year old man that was fired from his job in a company 6 years ago for attacking his boss and after that worked in a local super market???? â
The man didnât answer and didnât say anything for 30 seconds and then said â sir, I was head of my class through out my studying years in collage, I have been rejected by many companies as they saw me as a man who hit his boss and I only hit him as he had the nerve of humiliating me after my wifeâs death and I am proud of working in the super market as it was the only place that took me and opened itâs doors to me when all the other doors were closed and if it wasnât for my daughterâs sickness, I would have never left the only place that took me as I was and didnât reject me so if you are going to reject me and tell me there are lots of young people with clean records who can do this job, I will tell you that I can do it much better and take half the time â
After these words the manger looked at him smiled and said âI hope that you are free to start your work starting from next week and welcome abroadâ while saying these words the manger was thinking of this man who worked hard all of his life and still life didnât treat him well and on the other hand his nephew who didnât work for any thing in his life, but got every thing he ever wanted.
The man smiled, said âthank you very much â and just before leaving a woman got in with a newspaper and gave it to the manager who looked at it very angrily and told Mr. George â see you in a week and close the door behind youâ so, he got out went down and looked at the clock to find it 10:35 am and at the same time he found every one looking at a very neat man he looked at him and wondered why were they all looking at him, but he went out and then the man wondered to himself what life would be like without his lovely daughter who brightens his whole life after his wifeâs death, so he went into his car and said âthank you god as you take from a place and give to another, but much better and thank you for giving me an angel that lightens my lifeâ



Chapter three âHouse number 3â
In house number 3 lived a 19 year old boy named âAaronâ with green eyes, long brown hair and bronze skin with his mother, as his father left them when he was only 7.
So, his mother worked hard to make enough money to make him live a good respectful life as she worked as a manger at a supermarket, but he wasnât that good as he used to take drugs and get drunk and his mother when she knew had a heart attack and didnât talk to him for 6 months until one day his best friend died of an over dose and just then he went to his mother and told her âI want to go to rehabâ just then she talked to him after 6 months, so he went to rehab and hasnât taken drugs since then.
That was 2 years ago, because he was still with his same friends his mother was worried that he would go back and start drinking again as she felt that she wanted to watch him 24\\7 to make sure he would always keep away from drinking and drugs and to keep him safe, but he always tried to make his mother know that he would never return back to that stuff so he promised her that he would never return again to taking drugs, and ever since he got clean he has been helping in some local charities as well as working during the summer to buy a car.
So, on that day Aaron opened the door and found the box opened it and found the watch he thought it might be from a friend so he wore it and went out, because it was summer vacation he went to his motherâs work before heading to his summer job at a café, so at 9:30 am he went to his mother to say good morning and when he went there he was talking to his mother and told her about the watch and he told her he found it in front of the house and thought it was a gift and just then came in the accountant and Aaron said â hello Mr. George âthe man told him while smiling âgood morning to you too Aaron â and looked to his mother as Mr. George was telling her that he had found a job at âFood choirâ and he was doing that for his daughter and if it was to him , he would never leave, the boyâs mother looked the accountant, smiled and told him ânever forget us and always come by as the store will always be opened for you and say hi to your little angel and I hope she gets well soon, but you still have a week with us â and said in a humor âso go on you still have a job here donât let me fire you â.
After Mr. George left the boy told his mother good bye and went to his work as he liked his job very much, but every day he waited for a certain costumer who was a pretty blonde who always came every morning for breakfast and the boy had a crush on her and wanted to know her, but was afraid that she would reject him.



Chapter four â5 days laterâ
On Saturday at 11:00 pm James was with his friends on their vacation and while they were laughing and talking one of his friends mentioned Jamesâs father ,but just started to make jokes and said that he was like scrooge very cheap and didnât give his son the money he wanted in his last days and that he was a lucky guy to marry a very hot woman â"Jamesâs mother- so he began to get angry and wanted to fight him, but they stopped him and one said âlook man he was joking and donât fool your self you are nothing without your money, so donât be fooled in yourself we are the only friends you have without us ,you will only be a lonely rich kidâ
So, James said âmy uncle was right about you, you are only so called friends all you want is my moneyâ
His friend replied trying to cool things up âhey man, we were just joking â
The man shouted âget out of my house â
His friend said âwe are going, but just remember that without us you are a lonely 30 year old man who canât even keep a girl for more than 2days and canât do his own laundry, it is you own lose not ours â
âslammmmâ the door was shut and they left him thinking about every thing his uncle said and felt sorry for what he said back ,so he arranged his bag and went to the airport.
When he arrived there they told him that the next flight would be at 7:00 am, he thought âwhat will I do at an airport for 7 and a half hours?â, but he said ok and waited.
At 4:00 pm Mr. George was at the hospital with his daughter doing some tests to see at what stage the cancer was, what was the best treatment for her and if it was early enough to do surgery and take it out.
Mean while in house number three at 12:00 am Aaronâs mother was waiting for him as he told her that he was going out with some friends, but didnât come home yet, she tried to call him on his mobile phone, but he didnât answer and she was really worried about him.
At 3:00 am Aaron came home and his mother looked at him and said really angry âwhere were you?? and why do you look like that??? You have taken drugs, havenât you???â
He said while trying to talk as he had taken drugs âdonât worry I will wake up good as newâ and laughed.
His mother looked at him with disgust and anger and said âyou will never change you are now as you were 2 years ago, like father like sonâ
He said âit is just one timeâ and she replied âdonât you talk to me until you figure out what you want to do with your lifeâ and went away.



Chapter 5 âone day leftâ
At 7:00 am James took his plane back home and arrived at 1:00 pm and was really tiered as he hasnât slept for 2 days, so he took a cap and went home.
When he arrived home he ate some food and thought he would take a rest and after that he would go and have a talk with his uncle to apologize.
At house number two Mr. George went during his lunch break to the doctor who told him that he had some good news that his daughter was at an early stage and the tumor can be taken out by surgery and she would be better than ever and the surgery would be one month later, just as the man heard these words coming out from the doctorâs mouth he felt very happy and cried from the happiness and said âthank you godâ.
When he went back to work the manger asked him about what the doctor had said and when he told her she shouted in happiness âoh thank you god for saving that manâs little angelâ and she hugged him.
At 7:00 pm Mr. George went to the mangerâs office and told her that he had prepared every thing and cleared his disk as he was going to start his new job from tomorrow, she said while smiling âthis is it, but donât you forget us we are a family and we will always be there for you.â
He said âhow can I forget a woman like you??? You are the most kindhearted woman I have ever saw, and I will always come and visit.â
She replied while trying not to cry âcome on now, they have made a party for you lets not be late.â
Aaron woke up and when he got out of bed he didnât find his mother, so he knew she was still mad of him and she was really angry.
He took his jacket and went out for a walk and kept thinking about what he did last night as he completely ignored what his mother had told him and he even took some drugs which was something that he had promised his mother not to do it again and he said to him self âwhat have I done?? I promised mum that I would never try taking any more drugs and we were good and I just below every thing we had between us for nothingâ.
After the walk he went home stayed for a while then went out with some friends, while they were sitting his friends started to drink, but he told them that he made a promise to his mother and didnât want to return to what he used to be.



Chapter 6 âA week has passedâ
At 7:00 am the three men woke up, James woke up and called his uncle in the office and they told him that his uncle had an accident while driving from work 2 days ago and was still at hospital in a serious condition and told him that they tried calling him, but he didnât answer any of their calls and they gave him the name of the hospital.
When James heard these words he was really sad and angry from himself that he might have no time to say sorry to his uncle, so he wore his cloths fast and went to his car at 7:45 am.
Mr. George woke up, had breakfast fast said good bye to both his daughter and his sister and went out to his car, but when he went to his car it didnât work so he looked at his watch it was 7:30 am he missed the 7:30 bus, but there is the 7:35 bus, but he only had 5 minutes until the next bus arrives, he was saying to himself âwhy today??â and ran to the bus stop.
When Aaron woke up, he found his mother, but she didnât talk to him he tried to talk to her, but she didnât reply, she only got dressed and went to her job and he wore his cloths while feeling really sad to what he did and only hoped to go and undo what he had done, so he had breakfast and took his bike to work at 7:40 am.
Mr. George reached the bus stop and the bus had just arrived so, he said âThank godâ and got on the bus.
James was driving really fast and when he was driving his mobile rang so, while he was picking it up, he didnât look at the road for 15 seconds and when he looked he found himself driving fast towards a bus and couldnât stop so he hit the bus which Mr. George was in and during the crash the car was spinning and hit a bike that Aaron was ridding.
When the same watch came to all three houses it was late by five minutes, so when Mr. George looked at his watch he saw it 7:30 am, but it was 7:25 am if he had looked at it and corrected it he would have waken up at 7:00 am instead of 6:55 am so he would have gone out at 7:30 am not 7:25 am and he would have got onboard the 7:35 bus instead of the 7:30.
When James crashed he had every bad thing he had ever made or said to his father, uncle and mother running in his mind and that he had never treated any one good except for his friends who turned out to be benefit friends, and the only thing he was saying in his mind âIf only time would go back and I could say sorry and they forgave me, I am sorry dadâ.
At the same time Mr. George was thinking about his wife as they had a fight the day she died, they were talking and had a fight as he was working in a big company, but didnât spend any time at all with her or his daughter and he told her that he did that to bring money to live a better life and they kept shouting at each other until she went into the bed room prepared her bag, got dressed and told him that she was going to stay with her mother for a few days and the only thing he said was âdo what ever you want I donât careâ and she left crying and at 3:00 am that day he found the police knocking on his door and told him that the taxi his wife was ridding had an accident and she died.
He was sitting in the bus while it was crashing and said to himself while crying âI miss you babyâ.
When the car was spinning and hit Aaron who was thinking about his mother and that she raised him by her self after his father left them and worked for long hours to make sure that he was raised right, but he blew every thing away when he started taking drugs and despite that she stood by him when he came to her and wanted help to stop drugs and she encouraged him to get cured and find help to have a future and not waste his life for nothing.
After all that he still returned to taking drugs and she stopped talking to him for two days and he was thinking âI didnât have a chance to say to her that I love her and that I am sorry for breaking my promiseâ.
So, when we look at these three situations we find that despite there different social conditions they wall have two things in common, first thing that they didnât care even to look at the watches and even see if they were correct as if they had done that maybe the crash wouldnât have even happened, because If James had corrected his watch, he would have gone to his office and had the call there not in the car, and Mr. George as I have already said If he had corrected his watch, he would have caught the 7:35 bus instead of the 7:25 bus and didnât crash, and Aaron If he had corrected his watch, he would have gone to his work earlier and wouldnât have been hit.
The Second thing is that they all regret doing something in the past and wanted time to go backwards to undo what ever they regretted doing, but as we said time can never be replaced and we only realize how important time is and how important it is to think before talking or doing any thing until we are in a need to rewind every thing back.
After the crash they were taken to hospital and their families were informed about what had happened.



Chapter seven âSix months laterâ
Six months had passed and each and every life of the three men changed for ever as for Mr. George wasnât badly injured, he got the job and his daughter had the surgery and was healthier than ever, Aaron had a few injuries in his leg and couldnât rid his bike any more, but that was fine as he bought himself a car and he was able to say sorry to his mother and how much he loved her and for his own luck the girl he liked that came to the café every morning, was a nurse at the hospital and they are now seeing each other.
On the day of the accident one man died who was James âs uncle so, he wasnât able to say sorry to him, but he made it up to him as he ran the company and factory by himself and left all his so called friends and became friends with some good ones, and what made him change more is that while he was at hospital he met a doctor there and they began having dates and she was the one that told him that he had to change for him self, for his parents, for his uncle and for her as she loved him, so he did.
And the only thing the three men had in common at the eng was one question
âWhere did the watch come from?????â
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