1. Tick Tick Tick

The day started with ticks.

Eadon Stevenson’s alarm clock ticked ticked ticked to 7:02 that triggered the gears within it to launch a miniature hammer that hit two bells back and forth causing the five inch tall clock to shake violently, obnoxiously awakening her from her sleep.

Her wrist watch ticked ticked ticked as she walked her mile to school. The ticks rythemithic tocks complimented the steady rain’s soft pitter onto Eadon’s black umbrella.

When the small hand of her watch ticked to 8:30 she could hear bells ring from inside Rachel Heights High School as she walked up the base of the building’s steps.

It seemed that each of the school’s classrooms had a wall clock that ticked ticked ticked but were slightly out of sync with Eadon’s watch. Throughout the day, her teachers’ voices were droned out by the inconcise ticks. She could only focus on the passing seconds.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Eadon glanced up at the clock hanging in front of her last period’s classroom, her leg bouncing in time with each passing tock. Comparing her wrist watch to the wall’s, she could tell that the clock was running twenty seconds too slow. It was 3:30. The bell should have already rung. She should be walking home by now.

Eadon didn’t like to waste time. Seconds were not invaluable to her; she felt each was as precious as the last. Even a mere twenty seconds.

RIIING!!

Eadon was on her feet, books in hand, as she made her way out of the classroom.

1 ticks. 2 ticks. 3 ticks of empty hallways until the mass of students overflowed out of their respective classrooms and to their lockers.

Quickly, Eadon left what she didn’t need and grabbed what she did from her locker. She slammed her locker shut and managed to evacuate the school before its hallways were condensed with bodies consumed in jittery excitement for the weekend.

She let out a sigh of relief as her umbrella extended and popped open. She had survived her first week at a new school in a new city. Her breaths could be as steady as her wrist watch’s ticks.

To celebrate her small victory, Eadon began walking towards the few serene places this rundown city could offer: its beach.

The rain and approaching autumn weather promoted the beach to be more deserted than usual. Eadon liked it for its seclusion, but she loved it because it was the one place she could feel in control.

The sky was dark and cloudy. The waves thrashed and crashed against the shore. Eadon closed her umbrella so she could feel the rain run down her freckled face and wet her lavender hair. The ticks of her watch faded from her hearing as she allowed her other senses to become overwhelmingly lost in her surroundings.

She was no longer a participate of this world; rather a bystander to its forces and actions. In this moment, all she could wish for was to witness the world’s turning; it was easier than pushing the wheel that caused it to spin.

Eadon was at peace, but she’d never experience this kind of calm again; a storm was coming.