Tick Tock.

Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

It taunts me as it reminds me of its impending passage.

Its' sounds never bothered me before, but I was younger then, ignorant to its power.

I'd always thought I'd have more of it, but it grows louder...more ominous.

Tick Tock.Ticktock. Ticktock.

I wish to scream. A new year has arrived, but how?

How can it be here already when the former had barely arrived before exiting so hastily?

As though I blinked for one instant, and I became another year older without anything to show for it.

Ticktock, Ticktock, Ticktockticktock.

It's getting louder. Moving quicker than its predecessor already.

"Stop!" I shout.

"Please, if only for a moment. If only to allow me to catch my breath!" I beg.

Ticktocktockticktockticktock.

It plays with me as it smiles viciously at my rising panic.

I could swear the hands on the clock are dancing crazily, as I lose track of it and my sanity.

The room is spinning. This cannot be. I need more time. Just a little more to gather my thoughts... If only.

Ticktockticktockticktockticktockticktock.

I cannot take it anymore. I reach for the clock and rip it from the wall. I throw it to the ground and crush it beneath my feet. But it does not yield.

Ticktockticktockticktock.

I snatch the crushed clock, open the window, toss it out and immediately shut the window.

For a moment it is blissfully silent, silent enough to at last hear my own thoughts.

I take a sigh of relief as my panic begins to simmer, but just as I sit to rest for a stolen minute, I hear it again.

Tick tock. Ticktock. Ticktockticktock.

I scream.