The Inn At The End Of Time
In a small village called Serris, nestled between sprawling mountains and crystal clear lake, there lived a peculiar man named Fredrick. An outcast and an old soul, Fredrick spent his days and most of his long nights reading books about the histories, mysteries, and wonder of the broader universe. He held the infinite cosmos in great awe, fascinated by time's relentless march forward, and the ageless interweaving of past, present, and future. He dreamed of a way to explore them all, not as an onlooker, but as a traveller caught in the currents of time.
Lucky for Fredrick, he had an innate talent for inventing, which was uncommon in Serris. Behind closed doors of his house, which had now become a large messy workshop, he began working on a project. A project that would echo his dreams and aspirations, a portal to navigate across timelines. It wasn't a time machine in the classical sense; no gears, levers, or dial to set the year. Instead, it was a humble door, meant to open thresholds to different eras.
After many trials and many errors over countless months, he was finally ready to test his creation. When he stepped through, he didn't find himself in a different era but at the end of time itself. The universe was cold and dark. Stars had long burnt out, galaxies had drifted apart, and the hum of cosmic radiation had long been silenced. However, to his surprise, before him stood a quaint little inn glowing in the darkness, beckoning him towards its warmth.
The innkeeper, a woman named Casey, explained that she had created the inn as a sanctuary for lost time-travellers, a place outside of time where beings from all eras coexisted harmoniously. The inn's clients shared stories and wisdom from their own times, weaving a tapestry of narratives that spanned across all ages.
Fredrick didn't get to spend much time there but benefited enormously from the handful of conversations he had. He learnt about the future of the world, heard tales from times he could only dream about, and shared the wisdom passed to him. When he returned, he looked at the stars with a newfound perspective. He had gleaned a meaningful understanding of his existence and the interconnectedness of time.
Fredrick then decided to remodel his invention, turning it into public access to 'The Inn At The End Of Time'. No matter where or when you were, stepping through that door took you to a safe haven outside of time. Soon Serris was teeming with future historians, past explorers, present educators, and even some beings who considered 'time' an alien concept.
Despite the chaos of different ages interweaving, people respected one rule: no one must try and change the course of time. The villagers of Serris, once living simple lives, now found themselves at the centre of a hub of timelines; the gatekeepers to infinity.
The existence of the inn provoked an evolution in the villagers. Through inter-age communication, they learnt kindness transcends time, unity is not bound by the centuries, and the power of stories weaves hearts together, regardless of the timeline.
Fredrick passed away many years later but not before he had seen the transformation of his village. Serris had unknowingly become the eye of the time hurricane: a peaceful, stable point amidst the whirlwind of timelines and eras. Fredrick's humble door still stands in Serris as a testament to a simple man's dream shaped the heart of a village, fostered newfound values, and united an ever-diverging sea of timelines into a coherent story; a story of time itself.