When the clock suddenly struck two in the morning, its sharp ticking pierced my ears. The sensation then ran through my body as if by force and my eyes opened wide. I moved my eyes towards the clock’s direction at once but the unveiling darkness covered it and blocked my sight.

Though I couldn’t see the clock ticking, it kept on moving, ticking every second as if it was looking for a destination; a destination that was never to come. A path that leads it back to the same track. It, however, doesn’t give up and keeps on moving for eternity. After wondering about all this, I wandered back to my dreamland. The clock seemed very mysterious to me. It was the one representing the fourth dimension: time.

My elders had always taught me that you can never hold onto time and neither can the same time return to give you one more chance. But if it is so, then why does the clock tick back to the same time in every 12-hour period? If time cannot be held then how can a clock represent it?

This clock, hanging from the wall in my room, is among my oldest friend, companion, well-wisher and eyewitness, but it is also my oldest foe. From my early childhood days, this clock had been residing in my room, my closest and most intimate space. It was always there to witness both the good and bad moments in my life. It kept watching me and showed me the correct time—the time to start something new, the time to be innovative and the time to race with it. This clock has always reached out to me and helped me, even to fight the war against time. And though it has helped everyone around the world to reach their destinations and achieve their respective levels of success, I feel that it never achieved its own destination.

I wonder if the clock will ever achieve its true goal. But as I think about all this, I suddenly remember that the clock is still ticking continuously. As I hear the birds chirping outside my window and the warmth of sunlight falls over my face, I realise that the clock has ticked its way through yesterday and it is time for a brand new day.

I look at the clock and feel as if it had to say something. Something like, “Remember what I have been teaching you. Success is a journey, not a destination.”

Jha is a Plus Two student at Trinity International College