A knock at the door.

Your eyes flash open, and you find yourself lying on the bed in your apartment. The sheets are loosely wrapped around wrist. You laugh weakly and pull them off of you. What a crazy dream, you think, as you stand and walk over to the closet to get dressed. A small glint on the dresser catches your attention as you yawn and you quickly walk over.

There's a silver watch on your dresser.

You rush to pick it up. It's ornate, open-faced, with strange symbols on each of the gears. You can't help the overwhelming compulsion to put it on, and as you do, there's a knock at your door. Your roommate Anna opens your door cautiously, peeking her head in.

"Hey, are you alright? I heard some weird noises, and wanted to check on you." She walks in as you grab a nearby robe and cover up your pajamas. She's in a tight tank top and pajama bottoms. You can't help but wish you could see what was underneath.

"I don't feel well," you say, "I was having a nightmare."

"Aww. Let me get you a glass of water or something. It sounded like it was pretty bad."
She walks closer and notices your new accessory. "Wow, nice watch! Is it new?"

"Yeah," you say, "it was a gift." Anna looks at it for a moment, admiring the detail, and then looks back up at you. She smiles.

"Well, it's really nice. How 'bout that glass of water? You can play around with your new watch after you get some sleep!" She laughs lightly and turns toward the kitchen.

You look at the watch, continuing to examine it. By all counts, it shouldn't exist, and you're definitely unsure as to how or why it was on your dresser. You see a small button on the side and press it. A small yellowish gold light emanates from inside the watch and the second hand stops sweeping but nothing else seems to happen. You try to rotate the tachymeter, but it won't budge. You try counter-clockwise, and are surprised to see the entire watch face rotate with it. After just half a rotation however, Anna comes back into your room. You quickly notice that something is off about her; She's walking backward.

You let go and she freezes in place like a statue. You get up and walk up to her, but she just stares blankly ahead. You press the button again, and she starts back up as though nothing happened. She notices you behind her, and turns to speak.

"You don't have to follow me, silly, I'll get it. Just get in bed and -"

You press the button again and she freezes. Her mouth agape, mid-word, she stares into the middle distance. You rotate the face again, and she turns back toward the kitchen and then takes another step backward. You try to rotate it clockwise and it moves just enough for Anna to take the same step, but this time forward, and turn back toward you. You press the button again.

"You don't have to follow me, silly, I'll get it. Just get in bed and I'll get you some water."

You can apparently use this watch to control time. This isn't possible, you think, I'm still having a nightmare. But you can feel your curiousity getting better of you. You're suddenly aware of Anna again. She's been your roommate for a couple years and you know each other pretty well. You consider each other friends and despite harboring a pretty serious crush on her, you both agreed to stay platonic. Strange thoughts begin to whirl around your mind as you consider really testing out this supposed gift from your dream.