FATHER TIME AND MIRACLE MERMAID




Father Time continued on his inexorable march. He had done so since the beginning of time, and would continue until the end of time. Everything grew older, and eventually passed away under his watch. This is the nature of time. Few noticed if he took a short break, save the people in charge of the atomic clock. They made corrections. Father Time seldom took long breaks in his journey.

One day it happened. Father Time chanced upon Miracle Mermaid. She was oddly named by her mother (who was watching her diet, and avoiding mayonnaise.) She was Rubenesque. She was sitting on a rock by the sea. She was enchanting. He stood there enthralled. Time stood still.

The clocks stopped. The engineers at the atomic clock noticed the problem. They tracked Time in his path. They found Father Time on the beach. “Please, Father Time, continue on. That is how things must be.” Father Time ignored them. What to do? An engineer swam out to the rock. “Miss Mermaid, you must move on. You have stopped Time in his tracks.” Miracle Mermaid looked at the handsome engineer. “I guess I really am a Miracle Mermaid. If you would consent to be my consort, and swim away with me, the world might return to normal.” Some scientists will sacrifice anything for science. Hardly altruism, however; the scientist was smitten. They swam off together. The spell was broken, and Time marched on.