The Second Forever by Colin Thompson

are you talking about?’ said Peter. ‘When you die, that’s it.’
    â€˜No,’ said Foreclaw. ‘It isn’t.’
    â€˜What, you mean heaven and hell and all that stuff?’ said Festival. ‘I don’t believe any of that.’
    â€˜No, no, it’s not like those stories,’ said Foreclaw. ‘It’s much bigger than that. It’s not life after death. It’s life during life, from the instant you are conceived until the last seconds and the final act.’
    The more Foreclaw tried to explain, the more confused the children became until the old man finally sat down, buried his head in his hands and said softly, ‘I will have to show you.’
    â€˜Show us what?’ said Peter.
    â€˜The Hourglasses.’
    â€˜Hourglasses?’

    â€˜It’s like a library, but where there would be booksthere are hourglasses,’ said Foreclaw. ‘Millions upon millions of them – one for every living being on earth, not just humans, but every creature that draws breath.
    â€˜The two of you, me, your parents – absolutely everyone. Even Darkwood, though his hourglass has turned black, making the sand inside invisible, not that it moves anyway,’ Foreclaw continued. ‘There is an hourglass for every single living creature, not just humans, and when one of them dies, their hourglass . . . No, I have to take you, even though it is forbidden for anyone apart from the Warden to ever go there. It is so secret that it doesn’t even have a name, but these are desperate times when rules must take second place.’
    â€˜What’s the point of it?’ said Festival. ‘I mean, what are these hourglasses for?’
    â€˜They count the passing of time,’ said Foreclaw.
    â€˜I’ve never heard of them,’ said Peter.
    â€˜Nor have I,’ said Festival.
    â€˜Almost no one has,’ said Foreclaw. ‘The Warden is the only person there. When he was appointed to the job, he had to read the book to become immortal so he could watch over everyone else as the centuries passed without his own time passing.’

    Foreclaw explained that since Peter and Festival had destroyed the original book, the Warden, who was supposed to be there forever, had begun to age.He had been old to start with and was now close to death. ‘And when he dies, there will be no one to guard the Hourglasses and all life will slowly fade away.’
    â€˜So why doesn’t Darkwood become the Warden?’ said Peter. ‘Then there would be no risk of him dying.’
    â€˜True,’ said Foreclaw. ‘And in the beginning he would have, but as time has passed, or in his case, refused to pass, it has eaten away at him and now his heart has turned against him. Darkwood wants to destroy everything in the hope that it will destroy him too.’
    This was all too far-fetched for Peter and Festival to believe. It sounded like yet another fantasy religion made up to explain life, more like an exotic gothic fairy-story than something real. And even if there were such a place as the Hourglasses, what would it matter if it all stopped? It would hardly mean everyone would suddenly drop dead. If you destroyed all the books that had been written about something, that wouldn’t destroy the thing itself. It wouldn’t make any difference.
    â€˜I can see you don’t believe me,’ said Foreclaw. ‘But when I take you there and show you the devastation, you will have no doubts about re-creating the book.’

    â€˜Can’t someone else just become the new Warden?’said Festival.
    Peter was about to tell Foreclaw that they had already re-written the book, but then he remembered his grandfather’s advice about being very careful who he trusted and said nothing. He noticed that Festival had said nothing either.
    â€˜But this is only a tiny part of the problem. We need the river to flow again,’ said Foreclaw.