Cat Supawit's Story Proposal (Grandfather Clock)

Exposition:
Dust danced in the meager light that shone through the one broken window of my Antique Shop. The rays bounced and cascaded along the old furniture of the store. It was a sight to behold at any given time, but at exactly 12:00pm, for roughly an hour, every single ray of light seemed to point at a simple wooden stand, as if practicing for a show that may never happen. But it did begin, on the day when the golden-eyed traveler sold me the crystal bowl.

Inciting Incident:
I had no idea what to do with it, until the Grandfather Clock struck twelve and rays of light, like eager performers, began to sit upon a simple wooden stand. I placed the crystal bowl upon the stand and immediately the light began to dance. Reds, blues, yellows, greens; colors of every kind swirled within the bowl and then spilled out over stand and onto the floor. I peered into it and just where every color met in the middle of the bowl, I saw Her. She was everything good that a man could think of, and more. I must have stood there for an hour, staring at the beauty, because the show had ended, just as quickly as it started. Everyday from then on, I would wait, often impatiently, for the Grandfather clock to strike twelve. Then, for an hour I would close up shop and simply watch Her. I laughed when she laughed, felt angry when she did, felt longing and guilt whenever she cried. I watched over Her and her bowl, playing my self-given duty as an unknown guardian.

Rising Action:
Ten years later, I still watched over Her. I watched as she fell in love with another man. I watched as she walked down the aisle in an amazing white gown that flowed about her like a dream. I watched as her lover placed a braided-silver band upon her left ring finger. I was heartbroken at the sight that some other man had stolen her affections, but I was happy, if she was. She and her lover began a life a together, happy as any new couple could be. But as time went on, I watched helplessly as Her life slowly turned sour. Her lover was present less and less frequently until he could be absent for days. She became depressed. On the days where her lover was present, they would always fight, each one worse than the last. There was nothing, absolutely nothing I could do about it. I felt guilty at not being able to protect her, resentful towards the man who had hurt her, and worst of all, happy that I could once again devote my time to watching only her.

Climax:
The Grandfather clock struck twelve on a rainy day. I sat next the unlit crystal bowl as the thunder rumbled outside. Then, I noticed that I could catch glimpses of Her in the brief flashes of lightning. Her lover was there, home unusually drunk. They began to fight. A glimpse of Her yelling at him. A glimpse of him yelling back. A bottle thrown against the wall. A hand hitting a chiseled chin. Drunken anger exploding like the lightning outside. Belts snapping. Glass breaking. Her silent cries as his hands painted blue-and-black upon her skin. Flashes of red, and it was over. The Grandfather clock struck one.

Falling Action:
From that day on, the only glimpses I could ever get in that one hour were of her being abused. Her once beautiful face became hollow and angry. My anger and frustration at not being able to stop his hand from hitting Her drove me mad. My growing guilt pushed me over the edge and I began to obsess over the crystal bowl and created in my mind the images of Her being beaten down by her violent lover. One day, I snapped. I picked up the precious crystal bowl and smashed it against the wall.

Resolution:
The Grandfather clock struck twelve. The rays of light began to dance on the broken shards of glass, creating a solemn dance of reds and purples upon the old furniture of my forgotten Antique Shop. I looked up from the final show and into Her scarred and bruised face, the hollow and angry eyes. I watched, as I had always done before, as she walked out of the door, Her braided-silver wedding band thrown amid the glass.