The sun crept slowly upwards, behind the hills en-framed by my living room window.
As it rose, I watched the sky slowly transform into a canvas of blue and pink.
And as I watched, my eyes caught the silhouette of a bird sitting eloquently amongst the highest branches of an old oak tree.
I wondered if she was enjoying the slow morning sunrise as much as I was...
As I sank further into my chair and pondered what birds might like to think about, I could feel time ticking by.
I was having a hard time removing my gaze from the bird's unmoving shape.
Tick, Tick, Tick...
Time kept rolling on, but for this bird and myself, it might as well have been standing still.
The ticking of time continued on, but the longer I gazed the slower it became...
Tick, Tick, Tick...
I didn’t notice the slowing at first, and of course I thought it only my imagination when finally, I did.
I'm a sensible man you see, and can usually find sense in unsensible things.
But the longer I stared, the more obvious it became.
Tick
.
Tick
.
Tick....
Time was slowing down...
Still glued to the bird's figure, my eyes widened with each widening tick.
Tick
.
.
Tick
.
.
Tick...
The tick that was, at the beginning, a normal second's span apart, soon felt like full minutes before I’d hear its dawning sound again.
.
.
.
TICK
.
.
.
Was the world actually spinning slower now, or was it only through my perspective that I could sense such a wonder?
Was it I who was controlling time?
Was this more than an ordinary bird that I had locked in my gaze?
.
.
.
Afraid to blink, I could feel my eyes begin to dry and tighten within my skull.
How long could I hold the whole world still in a moment...
.
.
.
.
Then suddenly and without warning, my eyes gave in...
Tick, Tick, Tick.
When they opened again, my eyes frantically searched for the bird.
They focused just in time to catch the slight movement of a branch.
The bird was gone...
.
.
.
Suddenly my phone rang and the name that lit up the screen was that of my boss.
Then it dawned on me...
I don’t own a wall clock.
Just an unpredictable leaky faucet...
And I was very late for work.