Deep in the heart of the town of Tickbury, where clocks outnumber people and timepieces dangle from streetlamps like festive decorations, there lurked a peculiar gremlin. No one in Tickbury knew its real name, so the townsfolk simply called it “Secondhand Sam,” not because of any hand-me-down qualities, but because it had a rather unsettling obsession with watches.
Sam wasn’t your run-of-the-mill gremlin. For starters, it wasn’t particularly mean-spirited or interested in mayhem for mayhem’s sake. Sure, it had the requisite greenish skin, pointy ears, and glowing yellow eyes, but instead of terrorizing villagers or stealing their socks, Sam preferred to steal timepieces. Pocket watches, wristwatches, cuckoo clock pendulums—it didn’t matter what kind. If it ticked, Sam wanted it.
A Gremlin’s Quest for Timely Treasures
Sam’s lair was a sight to behold. Imagine the fanciest watch shop you’ve ever seen, then imagine that shop exploded, and you’ll have an idea of the chaos in Sam’s cave. There were heaps of wristwatches piled like treasure hoards, grandfather clocks leaning precariously against stalactites, and an unsettling number of digital watches dangling from strings like twinkling stars in the dim light.
But Sam wasn’t just a hoarder. It was an enthusiast, an aficionado, a true connoisseur of horology. It didn’t just collect watches—it understood them. Sam could tell you the difference between a tourbillon movement and a quartz oscillator. It could identify the make and model of a watch just by the sound of its tick. It even had a tiny gremlin-sized loupe for inspecting intricate gears, which it wore perched jauntily on its nose.
Still, Sam wasn’t above a little mischief to expand its collection.
Tickbury’s Timekeeping Troubles
Every Monday morning, like clockwork (pun intended), someone in Tickbury would notice a missing timepiece. Mrs. Higginbotham, the bakery owner, had her antique pocket watch snatched right off the counter. Mayor Wimple’s prized grandfather clock was discovered missing one night, replaced by a crude drawing of a stick-figure gremlin holding a sign that read, “Mine now.” Even Tickbury’s iconic clock tower wasn’t safe; Sam once climbed it during a particularly foggy night and pilfered all the hour hands.
Naturally, this left the town in chaos. Without their watches, the punctual citizens of Tickbury were lost. Mrs. Higginbotham burned countless batches of croissants. The postman delivered mail at wildly inconsistent hours. The train conductor, lacking a reliable pocket watch, departed the station precisely whenever he felt like it, sometimes three minutes early and sometimes three hours late.
The Great Watch Heist
One day, Sam decided it needed the pièce de résistance for its collection: the fabled Platinum Chrono-Master 5000. This wasn’t just any watch; it was said to be the most advanced timepiece in existence, capable of tracking lunar phases, tidal patterns, and even your grandmother’s birthday (it had an app for that). It was also hideously expensive, displayed under glass at Tickbury’s poshest jewelry shop, “Horology & Sons.”
Sam knew this would be its trickiest heist yet. The shop had security cameras, laser tripwires, and an old guard dog named Rufus who didn’t like anyone, especially gremlins. But Sam wasn’t deterred. It spent weeks plotting the perfect heist, sketching blueprints on scraps of napkins and bribing Rufus with an alarming amount of sausages.
On the night of the heist, Sam donned its custom-made black turtleneck and ski mask—it always wanted to look professional—and slipped into the shop through a vent. The plan went off without a hitch. Well, except for the moment Sam got briefly stuck in the vent and had to wiggle free, accidentally setting off the sprinkler system. But by sunrise, the Platinum Chrono-Master 5000 was safely in Sam’s cave, nestled on a tiny velvet pillow.
The Curious Case of the Missing Watches
As Sam’s collection grew, so did Tickbury’s frustration. The townsfolk held emergency meetings at the community center, where they argued about how to handle the gremlin problem. Mayor Wimple suggested hiring a professional gremlin catcher, but the budget only allowed for a retired cat wrangler named Earl. Mrs. Higginbotham proposed setting up gremlin traps baited with watches, but that plan backfired spectacularly when Sam gleefully took the bait and the traps.
It was young Timmy, the clockmaker’s apprentice, who came up with the cleverest idea. “What if we gave the gremlin its own watch shop?” he suggested.
The idea was absurd, but Tickbury was desperate. The townsfolk pooled their resources and converted an old shed into a quaint little shop called “Sam’s Time Emporium.” They stocked it with a mix of donated and fake watches, hoping to lure Sam into a life of legitimate business.
A Gremlin Goes Legit
To everyone’s surprise, the plan worked. Sam was delighted when it discovered the shop, complete with a sign that read “Proprietor: Secondhand Sam.” The gremlin gleefully took up the role, donning a tiny bow tie and manning the counter with all the enthusiasm of someone who’s finally living their dream.
Sam’s Time Emporium became a local sensation. People traveled from neighboring towns to visit the shop and marvel at the quirky gremlin behind the counter. Sam was surprisingly good at its job, offering repairs, appraisals, and long-winded lectures about the history of chronographs. Sure, it occasionally kept a particularly beautiful watch for itself, but no one minded as long as it didn’t steal anymore.
The Clock Strikes Success
With Sam running the shop, Tickbury returned to its normal, punctual self. Mrs. Higginbotham’s croissants were perfectly baked once more, the trains ran on schedule, and Mayor Wimple stopped looking over his shoulder every time he walked past a clock.
As for Sam, it couldn’t have been happier. It still added to its personal collection now and then, but it also found joy in sharing its passion with others. It even started hosting weekly “Tick Talks,” where it regaled customers with fascinating (and sometimes dubious) watch-related trivia.
And so, the gremlin that once stole timepieces found its place in Tickbury as the town’s most beloved horologist. Because in the end, even gremlins know that time is precious—and so is a really nice watch.
