The Legend of the Time Guardian
In a little village nestled in the hilly terrains of the Scottish highlands, teeming with emerald green meadows and lakes that shimmered like glass, there lived an eccentric old man named Ewan.
Ewan, hunchbacked from time, lived on the outskirts of the village in a cobblestone house. It was a curious oddity, much like its owner; lined with shelves of peculiar objects, and the walls covered in parchment of scribblings known only to Ewan. A stranger could easily mistake them for incantations or the ramblings of a mad man. However, known to the villagers, these mysterious markings held the mechanism of a fascinating device that Ewan had devoted his life to - an extraordinary time machine.
Ewan was a clockmaker who owned a unique and revered clock that guided him in maintaining the rhythm of his life and work. Rumours circulated that it was a magical clock made of celestial bronze and studded with rare jewels. Legend had it, he was an apprentice to a sorcerer, but chose to craft timepieces instead of casting spells.
One day, the clock mysteriously stopped ticking. Frantic, Ewan tried to fix the clock but to no avail. The villagers began to notice the eccentric clock having no rhythm, and strange things started to happen - the sun set at noon, Springleaf flowers that bloomed only in spring started flowering in the harsh winter, and newborn lambs were seen in October, a phenomenon never seen before.
Astonished by the irregularities and worried about the order of nature, Ewan decided to reverse the distortion of time caused by the abrupt surrendering of his magical clock. He initially tried to fix the clock by removing each gear, examining it, oiling it, and putting it back together. But the clock refused to move. He realised that fixing the time was impossible without entirely understanding it.
Years turned into decades as Ewan ventured into the theories of time travel. He documented his new-found knowledge extensively on the parchments that adorned his walls and spent hours in his workshop, relentlessly pursuing his new mission - to create a time machine.
One cold winter's night, Ewan completed the time machine after arduous struggles of nearly a lifetime. The machine was a grand spectacle, embodying the same celestial bronze that adorned the magical clock. Nervously, he set the time to the moment his magical clock ceased. As he hit a button, there was a great flash, and then darkness.
When he opened his eyes, he was back in his workshop, the clock ticking faithfully on the wall. But Ewan saw himself across the workbench, a younger version, stunned finding no explanation to the clock's defiance. He walked up to his startled younger self and gifted him a piece of the celestial bronze with a smile.
'For the clock!' Ewan with trembling hands gave the dusk-aged bronze piece and disappeared as surprisingly as he had appeared.
Back to his time, Ewan observed a bronze gear gleaming on the magical clock's heart. The clock that had been lifeless for decades sprang back to life. And gradually, with each ticking second, the village life returned to normalcy. The sun set at dusk, the Springleaf flowers wilted, and the lambs disappeared, leaving behind tranquillity that hadn't prevailed for years. The villagers celebrated, beaming with joy, but the humble hero chose nothing but the comfort of his cobblestone house and his faithfully ticking companion.
In the meantime, whispers of the mysterious reinforcer of time started on the streets that revered Ewan's wisdom, courage, and the love for his craft. The legend of the village's 'Time Guardian' continues to inspire villagers, recounting the story of a humble clock-maker, a magical clock, and a time machine that gently reminds people of the unstoppable wheel of time.