Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. It was all I heard throughout the night. It was all I could think about during the day, or what I thought could be the day. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. When I first woke up, all I could see was darkness. I truly thought I’d gone blind. Stumbling around, I bumped into unfamiliar objects. I walked through my apartment in the dark before, but there had never been a door frame there. Was that a cabinet? Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Hobbling through the unknown abyss, I bumped into yet another curiosity.

Crash!

The sound echoed throughout the empty void as my heartbeat’s pace quickened. Short sighs escaped my mouth as I backed up, step after step until there was nothing left to step on. I lost my balance, sending myself backwards and downwards, hearing the tick. Tick. Ti-

At least, that’s what I think happened. Realistically, I woke up on the ground staring at what looked like a grandiose chandelier and an un-railed mezzanine in the dim light, rubbing the back of my head. Tick. Tick. Tick. Through the aches, I inched forward to see an unfamiliar sight, a Victorian foyer. As my eyes skimmed past the plain oak walls, I caught a glimpse of a dark oak grandfather clock with an intricately-patterned forest etched into either side. 

The face of the clock was different. Instead of numbers, it had 8 distinct circles. The top circle was completely black, gaining a white color clockwise until it got to the bottom circle which was entirely white, then it began to lose its color again. There was only one hand, which at that time was on the right-most circle, where the left half of the circle was white, the other half black. I lost time staring at it, until I woke up from the trance of the clock, and looked to the front door. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

No knob. No patterns. Were it not for the gaps in the wall, it would almost not look like a door at all. They weren’t big enough for me to wiggle my fingers through though. I can’t get out. Tick. Tick. Tick. My stomach fluttered as I trudged through the nearly-empty home. Dining room. Kitchen. Living room. I rushed past fogged windows looking out into the silhouettes of trees illuminated by a half-waxed moon. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The second floor was empty. No beds. No cabinets. No furniture at all. Only rooms with torn and stained wallpaper. There was glass on the ground though, littering the hallway. I was done with that floor.

And there was the clock again. The hand had reached the next circle. Where did the time go? What is the time? It continues moving but what is the measure? Minutes? Hours? It doesn’t matter. Tick, tick, tick is all I hear. No owls, or crickets, or cars, or trains, or planes, or plains for miles, only me, the clock, and the forest encircling my prison.

I waited. I knew not what to do, yet I felt comfortable here staring at the clock. My stomach shouted though, so I knew I needed to find something to fill it. I started for the kitchen, hearing a creak with each step, and something caught my eye. A spatula? I must have missed the cutlery here before, but I grabbed it, turning around. Tick. Tick. Tick. The hand was on the white circle now, but maybe I shouldn’t care anymore. I jammed the spatula into the crack in the door, and pried it open. Tick. Tick. Thud!

Finally. I felt a breeze on my face. It was cold. Too cold. I walked out into the wet grass and looked upwards at the full moon. Wasn’t it just a half moon? It couldn’t have been. Either way it was fine because I was free. Tick. Tick. Tick. I rubbed my hands together, looking at the dark forest ahead. I’m not ready. Wasn’t. I looked back at the home, a beautifully-lit facade surrounded by darkness, then turned around, walked forward, and closed the door behind me again. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. The clock moved its hand again.

Round it went, slowly yet surely, the hands on that clock did move. Tick. Tick. Tick. I couldn’t help but keep my eyes locked, with countless thoughts ruminating in the recesses of my mind. Tick. Tick. Tick. The next circle? And the next? Two more left, yet it felt like I only just started looking. Tick. Tick. Tick. The room darkened, yet my eyes didn’t move. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Moving ever closer to the final dark circle, I decided to glance out the opened door. It felt new. Newer? The forest invited me, when before it pushed me away. I wasn’t ready then, but now I am. Tick. Tick. Tick.

I stand. Faint melodies whisper in the silence, if I listen hard enough, and what wasn’t there before beckons me. It is time. The once cool air seems to meld with my skin, and the ticking of the clock grows ever distant. Is it time? The moon above disappears from a crescent, yet still I sense the way, as the clock behind me stays. Tick. Tick. Tick. As my feet carry me beyond the threshold of the property, the last thing I can hear is the tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Tick.