Bewildering Stories welcomes...

Clara Williams

Clara Williams is the pen name of a French lady who has studied translating and conference interpreting in Germany and the U.K., and now works in Geneva.

A short story of Clara’s has won a prize in competition and many have been selected for anthologies. “Chronos” is her first English-language story, and we are delighted to be able to bring it to the public.

The plot of “Chronos” recalls those of the TV series The Twilight Zone. And that is not bad at all. Its interest is in Marc Friedman’s need to take for time for himself without shirking his everyday duties at home and in his business. His grandfather’s magic watch allows him to stop time when he needs to, and take a break from routine.

The trouble with the watch is, as the saying goes, “There’s no free lunch.” The watch eventually wears out and leaves Marc stranded outside of time, as it were. But even if it hadn’t broken, people would have eventually begun to wonder why Marc was aging so much more rapidly than anyone else.

As for the Challenge questions about the watch’s cosmic implications, I think one can tell physicists just to relax and enjoy a good story!

Clara Williams’s bio sketch can be found here.

Bienvenue à Bewildering Stories, Clara. Nous espérons vous revoir dans nos pages bientôt — et souvent ! We hope to hear from you again soon and often!