The Time Keeper: Mitch Albom

     Dor told his beloved wife, Alli, “I am going to stop your suffering.” Dor was the first human being to measure time. He was a brainiac person since childhood. Back then his friends would run toward the apexes of mountains; he also would do the same with one difference that is he would count his steps. After growing up and getting married to his gorgeous wife, he spent his days tracking the sunsets and sunrises. He fathomed what others did not, that there were similar moments between days. From this perceptive, he developed a primitive method to measure the movements of the sun and moon using merely sticks and circular bowls with holes in the middle. He spent his days repeating this process till he 

even fathomed that there are months and years.

But, the question is: Did this help him? 

Alli was a kind and caring woman. She helped whoever stepped into her house regardless of their ailment and need. She loved her husband, Dor, and he loved her back. But, he was busing himself on counting the movements of the sun and moon, which distanced him from her. Due to the endless visits of sick people, she caught a disease for which there was no treatment. Dor could not watch his beloved leaving him alone, so he for the first time begged for help from the heavens. After waking up the next day, he found his wife in a worse situation. After running out of options, he climbed the highest building, Babel tower, to stop time. Upon reaching the peak, he found himself in a cave alone.

He was sent there as punishment for him measuring time. He spent 6000 years hearing voices of various people begging for time to go back, move slowly or fast, or even to stop. Afterward, he was sent back to the earth to know the reason for this punishment by studying two cases of Sarah Lemon, a college student, and Victor Delamonte, a businessman.

Sarah Lemon was a clever girl who was abandoned by her father after his divorce from Lorraine, Sarah’s mother. Sarah longed to be friended and accompanied. However, because of her obesity and weird smartness, few would talk to her and visit her. She had only her divorcee mother caring for her, but she wanted to be loved by a boy. Consequently, when a guy named Ethan, got in touch with her. She changed to avoid losing him. Depicting what Shams of Tabriz said “The quest for love changes us. There is no seeker among those who search for love who has not matured on the way. The moment you start looking for love, you start to change within and without.” While meeting Ethan, Sarah would ask the time to be slow. And, in his distance, she would ask the opposite. Later on, she found that Ethan did not love her as she did. He simply wanted to have sex with her and leave her for good. She did not allow him to figure out it was too early for that step. Ethan then exposed her on his Facebook account as a stalker. Sarah could not bear that, so she locked herself in her house for weeks. Next, she decided to commit suicide thinking Ethan would regret his deed after her being dead. So, on new year's night, she got into her car and connected the exhausted fumes pipe to the cabin………

Victor Delamonte was a very prosperous man. His wife, Grace, was a lovely caring woman. They had led beautiful life till Victor was diagnosed with cancer. He hates losing and being defeated. So, from that day on, he had funded research centers and medical centers to cure this fatal ailment. Unfortunately, one year after, they could not do anything. Now he only had few months to live. He was determined not to lose; therefore, he looked for solutions and methods to win, cheat or at least stop his death. He found cryogenic preservation and decided to be preserved during new year's night without telling his beloved wife, Grace. “I am going to be here” his last words to his wife, Grace had to leave to show their support for their charity organization. After her departure, he headed toward the cryonics center where the bribed doctors were waiting to fake his death and let the verification begin. Once there, he showed everything but fear……

Here comes Dor, who now had the power to slow, fasten and stop time using his sand hourglass, to show Sarah and Victor what they had not been thankful for and did not appreciate. Consequently, he in their moment of dying “carried” Sarah to the cryonics center. There she woke up facing Victor. Before Dor returned to them, they had shared their stories. Then Dor accompanied Sarah to her future if she had committed suicide. In her future, she saw no regret whatsoever from Ethan. Not only he showed no lament, but he also was with another lady. Then Dor showed Sarah how her mother and the people she was helping reacted to her loss. Dor did the same with Victor showing how his love Grace reacted to him being in a cylinder. Dor also showed that his plan was not going to work as the future law was going to be different, which meant his money and fame were not going to be the same. Also, he was going to be kept like a fish in a bowl for people to watch the sentimental moments of his life to learn about these emotions.

Dor, Father Time, learned that time is not critical. What is vital is your decision now. He learned that it always is not too late nor this life is the end. Do not waste your time thinking about yesterday or tomorrow. The first has gone, and the latter is in God's hands. After completing his punishment, he returned to that moment when his wife was dying to die with her and never to leave her alone.