Tick tock tick tock tick tick

Karam Y., 12 , GSIS

Tick tock tick tock tick tick. Mrs. Simonson stared balefully at the clock. Why did time seem to go by so quickly? She sunk into a reverie. In the good old days........She saw herself as a child of four or six giggling happily with her friends, pigtails flying in the wind. She saw herself at the desk, her head drooped down trying to solve a hard problem. She saw herself graduating. Diploma in hand, grinning proudly at her parents. Then she saw dear Mr. Simonson's face, smiling at her. She saw her two children reaching out for her and laughing when she scooped them both up.

After that came the years of sadness and pain. She saw herself waving goodbye to her children. She saw herself dressed in black weeping over the freshly dug grave in which her poor son lay. She remembered the lonely times, with only Mr. Simonson for company, feeling so lonely. She remembered the Christmas when she had sat on the porch waiting for nearly a whole day for the daughter who never came. She remembered the recent years. Returning to the house and finding Mr. Simonson sprawled on the floor, barely breathing. She remembered the long hours she spent chewing her fingernails and praying to God to spare her husband. All in vain.

Mrs. Simonson woke up with a sudden jolt. A tear glistened on her cheek. She stared at the empty old house, half expecting her family to pop out. She sighed and looked down at her hands. They were swollen from arthritis and worn from many years of work. She stared into the mirror and saw her countless wrinkles and snow white hair, her sad grey eyes and her down-turned mouth. It would be her time soon, she thought.