The Story of the Wonky Clock

Image not mine. Source: Salvador Dali Melting Clock Digital Painting

When you were born, people knew who they want you to become. Your life was set in stone. The cheers you hear were cries of the people who missed their chance in life. And you are their key to redemption. You are a fresh start for them. You are a ticket to secure their happiness. 

The clock starts ticking and you begin growing up. Each time you celebrate your birthday, it is a yardstick - have you accomplished what you ought to accomplish? No? Oh, then that's bad. Suddenly, the cheers you hear turned to snickers. How come you are not as successful as that person? Why can't you do things right? You are starting to mold into a disappointment and woe to that. 

What did you do wrong? All you did was live the way you want to live your life. Slowly, the sparkle in your eyes starts to dim. Waking up each day, putting on your uniform, studying, eating, laughing, going back home, sleeping - and this cycle repeats. You feel like there's no way out. 

This was a clock that was not yours, to begin with. You tread a path that is not yours too. It was a path created so they can create perfection. But that perfection was a wolf in sheep's clothing because they themselves were unable to achieve it. So they pass the burden to you.

You wake up with this realization. You were not suited for this. But what can you do? Will you break the clock that has always guided you from the moment you were born? Or will you remain sheltered by it and live a life that people have expected of you? The former leads you to thorns as sharp as a knife, the latter brings you to an oasis in the middle of a scorching desert. 

Oh, how sweet it would be to choose the oasis. 

But you are not thirsty for perfection. What you search for is a path you can call your own no matter how difficult it can get. So you journey into the road with thorns. Eyes as penetrating as wolves fixate on you as though you are a prey. They will make you think you are in the wrong path. They will make you question your worth. Your very being. You tread onwards - but do so with fear. 

In the thorny path, the sun rises beside the moon. There is no age. There are no expectations. The north is a smile. The south is an eye. The east is a friend. The west is a cool breeze. You feel right because now you feel this is where exactly you need to be. The clock that was meant for you wasn't the regular timepiece. 

Yours is a wonky clock and the second, minutes, and hours belong to you and who you want to be isn't dictated by anyone else but you. And for the first time in a long time, you finally feel alive. But the wolves' eyes remain on you.

Written by: Mary Jedde