The First Breath | $TIME Micro Story #21

This is $TIME micro story #21, a glimpse into the greater world of the epic story coin we are creating. Enjoy and if you like it, find out more about the project below.

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The Time Keeper sat alone in the observatory, her hands trembling as she held the watch she’d carried for decades. Its once-pristine surface was scratched and dull, like her own hands—worn by years of service. Tomorrow, it would no longer be hers.

They told her she’d done enough. More than enough. She had rewritten tragedies, salvaged lives, and stitched time back together when it frayed. But tonight, as the stars whispered through the dome above, there was one moment she had never dared to touch. Until now.

She adjusted the dial with deliberate care, her breath catching as the numbers aligned. The room dissolved around her, and a pull—both familiar and bittersweet—dragged her through the fabric of time.

When the world reassembled, she stood in a small, dimly lit cottage.

The air was warm and heavy with the smell of lavender and iron. On the bed before her, a woman cried out, her sweat-drenched hair clinging to her face. Her mother.

The Time Keeper’s knees felt weak as she moved closer, her boots creaking on the wooden floor. She knew the woman from faded photographs, but nothing could have prepared her for this—her strength, her vibrancy, the determination etched in her features.

“It’s a girl,” the midwife announced, her voice trembling with relief.

The Time Keeper froze, her breath catching as the newborn’s cry pierced the room.

Her mother’s laughter filled the space, weary yet triumphant. “Welcome, little one,” she whispered, holding the baby to her chest. Tears mingled with the sweat on her face, and for a moment, the world was only love.

The Time Keeper stepped closer, her heart aching as she looked down at the child she once was. The baby was impossibly small, her face scrunched in protest at the cold world she had entered.

Her mother’s gaze lifted, and for a terrifying instant, their eyes met.

“Who are you?” her mother asked, her voice sharp but not unkind.

The Time Keeper’s throat tightened. She had rehearsed the words in her mind, but now they felt impossible to speak. “Just…someone passing through.”

Her mother studied her for a moment, then nodded, as if understanding more than she should. “Then wish her well for me, whoever you are.”

The Time Keeper swallowed hard. “She’ll be incredible. Because of you.”

Her mother smiled faintly, her focus returning to the baby in her arms. The Time Keeper stepped back, knowing she had stolen all the time she could.

As she adjusted the watch and felt the pull of return, she looked back one last time. Her mother’s laughter echoed in her ears, mingling with the baby’s cries.

When she reappeared in the observatory, the room felt unbearably empty. Her watch blinked faintly, counting its last moments in her possession. She slipped it off her wrist and placed it gently on the table.

She had seen wars end, lovers reunited, and empires fall. But nothing compared to witnessing her own beginning—a moment she could never step into again.

For the first time in years, she allowed herself to cry.

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If this piqued your interest, come check out the project. Here’s why $TIME is worth your, well, time:

• MC-based chapter unlocks

• A token that ties into a story

• Community milestones with cool rewards

• Awesome art

• A team of 4 equal owners with publicly shared wallets and a profit-taking strategy that does not initiate until $10M MC (at which point we only unlock 1M tokens)

• An organic growth strategy. We do not like fake volume and “KOLs” with bot armies. We’re keeping it real and we’re looking for real investors

• A unique project TG bot that’s part of and grows with the story

• Different narratives on each social channel, like our micro stories on Reddit

Come chat with us if you’d like to know more! The ca will lead you to all our socials.

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