The Grandfather Clock
Thomas Whitehorse lay dying in his bed.
Old age was a cruel thing. One day, your a healthy man, the next, arthritis sets in. Then, you slowly grow weak, Organs fail, transplants are needed. But the transplants only delay the inevitable.
Thomas had fought valiantly for life, mostly because he had never thought about death. He had always lived in the present, never thinking too much about the future. Life was now, why waste it thinking about later?
His entire life, Thomas had quested for life's pleasures. One pleasure in particular interested him the most: Wealth. Mr. Whitehorse had spent his life gathering every dollar he could squeeze out of people. Naturally some of those people were lied to, blackmailed, and betrayed.
But Thomas didn't mind, so what if a few people thought you were a heartless fiend? As long as you have money, you can just as easily find others. Thomas had even gone as far as to build up a business that opposed his family's and forced them into bankruptcy. The last he heard, Thomas's siblings were living off of welfare.
The old Grandfather Clock he had boomed out four tolls. Four o'clock, Thomas had survived another hour. He wondered how many he had left, he didn't think he had much.
The old grandfather clock had been a family heirloom, passed down to Thomas from his father, before the bankruptcy incident. Thomas had always planed on selling it, sure it would fetch an excellent price in the auction house, but he never got around to it. The life a businessman is a busy one. Factor in his never ending quest for money and Thomas barely had time for afternoon tea.
Thomas had always insisted on being treated at home. He knew he could get into the best hospital in the country, but living that way had never appealed to him. Even now, crippled and dying, he refused to be hospitalized. Instead he had brought the nurses, the doctors, and all the equipment they needed for the treatments to him. Why chase the doctors when your rich enough to have them chase you? It was all just common sense.
Now however Thomas was regretting his decision to be treated at home, because now he could hear the grandfather clock, and it was reminding him of past sins. He remembered a little girl he had kidnapped. Her father was a low class businessman, but Thomas knew he could pay the fifty thousand dollar ransom. The man had eventually gotten his daughter back, delivered to him in a body bag after Thomas had gotten the money. Thanks to a few strings Thomas had pulled, the kidnapping had never been solved.
He also remembered getting married, the lady's name was Margret Peterson. As soon as there honeymoon was over Thomas had gotten her the best life insurance plan he could afford. He also remembered hiring a hit man to kill her a year later. She had been on a road trip with a few friends at the time, the hit man assured Thomas her death had been quick.
Thomas didn't have the luxury of a quick death. He was numb to the nurse's touch, there concern for him that they showed to pretty much everyone else they treated didn't touch him. Thomas had been cruel in life, and as hard as it is for some to believe, he was regretting it all now. But, the one thing he regretted most, was not starting a family of his own. Thomas had never wanted children, and he went to great lengths to make sure he had none, even killing a woman on the spot when she told him she was pregnant with his child. But Thomas now wished he hadn't killed her, and that she had given birth to his child.
The old grandfather clock tolled five times. Five o'clock. It would be the end for the old clock, there was no where for it to go now. Thomas had no one to pass it on to, there would be no one continue the legacy. That was something every tick the cursed clock made reminded him of.
A lone tear ran down Thomas's face as he let go of his last breath.
The Grandfather Clock never tolled again.
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