The Clock Tower (Edited)

Once upon a time, there was a little crappy town called Mill Town that nobody ever heard of, or cares about, on the outskirts of Cody, Wyoming. The whole town revolves around an old clock tower that doesn’t even work!

Okay, that was completely lame! Let me start over again…

So, my name is Cole Sanders. I am the son of the mayor… If you can call him that. There really aren’t enough people in this place to actually need a 'mayor,' but my dad does whatever it is that keeps our sleepy little town from dying a slow and painfully boring death!

Don’t get me wrong! I really love my dad and mom. They are great parents. Strict but fair. Never gave me a punishment I didn't deserve (not that there is a lot I can get in trouble for in the sleepy little town- not that I haven't tried every once in a while, just for something to do).

I also have 2 younger brothers. Joseph and Zachary. Troublemakers, the both of them. But everyone in town seems to find them amusing!

HA! Why can’t I get away with anything and the get away with murder? Seriously? Is it because I'm the oldest brother? Psh! Not fair!

I am in my senior year in high school. I swear there are less than a hundred of us in the whole freakin’ school! Not that that would surprise anyone.

We are a pretty close-knit group. It’s not often you find a farmer’s family basically on the same social level as the mayor or the Sheriff, but that’s just how it is here.

Everybody knows everyone. And there really is no such a thing as secrets here.

The whole town square consists of the Sheriff’s office on the Northwest corner of Main Street. (Yes, I know… So original!) The Sheriff is my buddy Brad’s dad, Nate.

Sheriff Nate is pretty cool, and he normally only chastises us for staying up past 10 pm on a school night. Once he called my dad and I never heard the end of it! What the heck? We were only fishing in the stream because we had nothin' else to do!

Then there is the Corner Market, which is on the Southwest corner of Main Street. It is run by Erin’s family, the Smith’s.

They actually come from a whole line of farmers, but her parent’s, Harry and Hannah, are also in charge of the tiny store. Erin has a whole crap load of uncles, aunts and cousins that work the fields. But sometime in the past, someone thought it was a good idea to put in a little store.

It’s either that or drive all the way out to Cody. And who wants to drive 45 minutes for a loaf of bread or a bag of candy?

There is a little church on the South end of the Street. Father Marsh has been standing at that pulpit before I was born. I swear they guy is 90 years old if he is a day!

I’m sure one day soon, he’s gonna be up there telling us to love each other and then he is just gonna keel over.

Then there is the “town hall” that is basically where we have “town meetings” and a few Official things.

There is an assembly hall and like 3 “office rooms,” where my dad works. That building is on the Southeast end of Main Street. It’s about half the size of the high school.

There is also a bank, run by Sondra Jenning’s family.

What can I say? Every family in town uses Miller Bank. It’s at the Northeast corner of Main Street.

She could be a complete brat because she is from one of the richest families in town, but she’s actually really sweet. Sondra is actually Brad’s girlfriend.

We have a couple other little shops in between, like a bakery and a laundromat. There is even a little diner that makes awesome spaghetti!

The Miller High School and Mill Town Elementary Schools are both on the North end of the Street. There are not enough kids for a middle school, so elementary school goes from kindergarten up to 8th grade!

Once upon a time, it was all one school until we got a little crowded, and they decided to build the high school. Halleluja!

And then there is the Clock Tower. It’s in the center of town. Every single building is facing an old Clock Tower.

I know! So freakin’ exciting! NOT!

There is a park that happens to be the only hangout spot in the whole crappy town, and there is even a cemetery on the east side. Mill Creek runs right through both of them.

Amazingly there are actually fish that run through the shallow water! So, if you got a pole you can hang out at the creek. But that’s about it for excitement around here.

Okay, so this year, our class has been given a special assignment. Back in 1926, the whole Old Mill Town was burned to the ground. No one actually knows what happened. But the only thing still standing from that time is the old Clock Tower.

The town was obviously rebuilt, right on top of the old one. I don’t know if that’s bad luck or not… I never thought about it too much, being built on a skeleton of a town.

Anyway, our history teacher wanted us to research the event and present it as a major part of our grade. It’s kinda a group project. It’s supposed to bring appreciation for our town, or something like that. '=

Honestly, I could care less… But I gotta get an A or dad’s gonna kill me!

Well, I guess it could be worse! We could have done a history report on all of Wyoming or something stupid like that!

Who the heck cares? Well, I guess all the other people who aren’t stuck in this stupid little town might care.

I know this sounds like the most boring place in the whole world… And you would be correct!

But just wait! It gets better... Sort of... My whole life got flipped upside down because of that stupid clock!

And this is my story…