Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Escape (01/02/06)
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TITLE: You Cannot Escape Time | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marilyn Schnepp
01/02/06 -
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Satisfied by the silence, I pulled the covers up over my head and tried desperately to recapture the dream that had been so rudely interrupted; but as usual, the handsome Knight in shining armor had vanished. But No More! As of today, I'm retired!
It was almost noon when I finally got out of bed, fixed myself some breakfast....no! I believe they call this "brunch" in high society...fixed myself some brunch and made a few telephone calls to brag about my newly acuired status as a "Lady of leisure".
Satisfied that I had made friends and ex-co-workers envious of my new found freedom, I pirouetted gaily down the hall to make my bed, shower and prepare for whatever "ladies of leisure" do; but as I entered the bedroom, I stopped dead in my tracks! There, lying face down on the carpet in front of me, was "Old Faithful"; bent, bruised and broken...but amazingly still ticking!
Immediately a battle ensued within me! What to do? One part of me was suggesting I finish him off permanently! "Kick him, destroy him while he's down! Satisfy your life long vendetta to escape from his incessant pestering!" I can't remember the exact date his obnoxious "brrrrrrrr.ing" replaced my mother's cheery "Good Morning, Sunshine, rise and shine", but I do know that from that day forward (with the exception of Military boot camp, when a loud-mouthed Sergent did the honors) , that pesky Alarm Clock never gave me a moments peace! There was no escaping his nagging call!
That clock bugged me all through high school, then continued to hound and harass me through thirteen states, twenty eight cities, umpteen jobs, a husband and two kids! I couldn't escape that constant "Ringing, Ringing, Ringing! Relentless! Oh, how I hated that clock!
However, the "other" side of me couldn't escape the truth. If it hadn't been for that pesky clock I wouldn't have graduated, I'd never been able to keep a job, wouldn't have made appointments, made the bus or train, or not even made it to the church on time to say my "I do's"!
If only I had lived on a farm I wouldn't have this decision to make! When farmers get irritated at their Alarm Clocks, they have barbecued chicken for supper, right? When their "cockadoodle-do's" get on their nerves, they escape from their frustrations the easy way...barbecued Rooster.
However, there's no escaping the cold hard facts - I wouldn't be retiring today if it hadn't been for that irritating, annoying incessant "brrrrrrrrring" that got me to work on time.
The conflict was over. The voice of truth won out. We, (me, myself and I) would rescue the little guy. I bent down and gently picked up "old faithful". I scotch taped the cracked face, straightened the crooked "second" hand, and tightened the loose knobs on the back; then dusted him off and replaced him on the night stand.
The old face was now blurred from the tape, but I watched as the second hand wobbled unsteadily around and over the familiar numbers as it struggled to make it's rounds, but it never missed a beat.
As I turned and headed for the shower....that's when I heard it! A sound. A rather strange and almost inaudible sound coming from the night stand. It was a faint "purrrrrring", like the sound of a contented kitten. I smiled.
You can't ignore time, you can't kill time, and you surely can't escape time....it keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking.....
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Great story and wonderful moral.
Pauly