It’s Time

Jared stopped pacing and pressed refresh on his email screen. He hit the button two more times out of impatience, before continuing the follow the worn path on his brown carpet. He wished Grandma Lola were still alive. She would be pacing the floor with him, awaiting news from a potential funder for his latest invention. He could almost her hear nervously chatting about how this time, they would snap up his invention. 

He missed her desperately, but at least he still had Bessie. 

Bessie was Grandma Lola’s treasured antique Junghan clock she had brought back from Germany. It was her constant companion in her final years. Each time Bessie chimed; it was like his grandmother singing encouragement. Jarod wiped the sweat beading up on his forehead.  

When the investors’ response email arrived, it was going to change his life. For the good, or the bad, that was the question causing him anxiety.  The closer to five o’clock, the more his nervous stomach tumbled. 

The clock seemed to tick louder as each moment passed.  

“Bessie,” he called out, “this is going to be the one, I just know it. I promise, it won’t fail like the others.” He smiled weakly.  Each of the inventions that his grandmother fully supported him on, had failed miserably. 

 After someone spray painted a tic-tac-toe game the side of his grandmothers’ home, he was inspired to make it stop.  He created a blocker that would keep paint from sticking to any surface he named Graffiti Away. His magic spray worked great and should have been a winner. No more messy freeways. No more small businesses being tortured. It was brilliant.  Except for one small problem. Graffiti-Away was so toxic, it burned any skin it met, even after drying for a week. The product was shut down before they tested what it did to the soil below.

Next up was a product he thought would help his grandmother get her old cat to the vet. The elderly cat, Mr. Wink was terrified of the travel box. Jarod decided he’d make a seatbelt, so Mr. Wink experienced the car like a person would. He called it the Cassanger Seat. It was a winner. Old Mr. Wink would sit on the seat and fall asleep instead of scream from the box the whole ride. It worked so well, that Jarod and Grandma Lola thought he would get rich off this invention. They pulled together all their money to push it to market. 

Sadly, their first customer, Mark, did not have this kind of luck. His cat scratched up his arms and shredded not only the Cassanger seat, but the whole back of the car as well. He couldn’t risk the potential lawsuits. He had to shut it down. 

It had been six months since his grandmother passed, the pain was so great he wanted to find a way to use his dwindling inheritance to honor her with a winning invention. He decided to make Bessie digitally connected so she could be with him always. He developed an app called Love Our Live Antiques, or LOLA for short. This app lets  anyone connect with a clock to enjoy their distinct chime, be able to wind the clock from the app, see the room from their perspective and record it’s history so the stories would stay with Bessie always. If it worked, he could find a way to adapt it to any family heirloom. 

Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong.  Bessie’s rich chime let him know it was five o’clock. She seemed a bit fast, probably a reflection of their shared nervousness.  His heart raced faster.  He checked his email again. Five clicks on the refresh and finally he got a result.  He clicked into the email and saw the subject “Request For assistance – Nigerian prince.” He dropped the mouse and laid down on the worn leather couch covering his face with both arms. 

Minutes later, his phone buzzed. He jumped to his feet and raced around his small apartment trying to locate the buzz.  He found it under yesterday’s dirty shirt. He took a deep breath, smiled, and answered.

“Yes, this is Jarod.” He said wiping his sweaty hands on his pants. “Of course, I can be there Monday at 2pm.” He said silently pumping his fist in the air with excitement. “I look forward to it.” Jarod hung up the phone and screamed. “ Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes!”

He ran over to Bessie and kissed her glass. “We did it, Bessie. You, me and LOLA are in the big leagues now!”