Title: Tick-Tock
Author: Lolly_Tolly
Characters: Johnothan and unnamed doctor
Genre: Mystery
Keywords: Time, super-hero
Summary: Time moves on, and Johnothan is still trapped.
Rating: PG
Notes: Constructive criticism is always welcome. I wrote this for an exam at school. The exam is one that most grade 12 students in my state have to sit. I got an A which is, apparently, exceptionally hard to do.
Tick-tock.
Johnothan had decided a number of hours ago that the waiting was the worst. He could not see the clock, (which was either blessing or curse) but he could hear it.
Tick-tock.
Time pressing onwards. He knew that it would have pressed onwards anyway, but the constant reminder did not help his present situation. He had been caught, this he knew, but how, he did not know. Whoever it was had done it well, as Johnothan had not known until he woke up.
Tick-tock.
His opponent, whoever it actually was, must have known that he needed silence to concentrate fully. There was no way that he could concentrate on escape with a ticking clock.
Tick-tock.
He wished he could go back in time, to a time when clocks did not exist. Of course, if he were to do that, then his own time would fall apart for he was the only active super-hero left, and a poor one at that. Johnothan knew, deep down, that many would wish to live in his time. There was no war at this point, no assassinations, and generally, very little need of an actual super-hero. Of course, a homicidal psychopath would pop up every few months and change that, for about five minutes.
Tick-tock.
Johnothan smirked slightly as he thought of a song to go with the beat of the clock. He began to hum softly before he realised what the song was. 'Dancing Queen?' he thought incredulously. Immediately, he started banishing thoughts of the high school formal from his mind. He needed to concentrate.
Tick-tock.
He was ready to scream. It would not do any good, though: this he knew from experience. Suddenly, a black spot on the otherwise white wall grabbed his attention. Johnothan used it, concentrating for the first time since waking up.
Tick-tock.
He twitched, and so did the black spot. 'Interesting,' he mused Moving his head, he followed the spot with his eyes. It did not move.
Tick-tock.
He wondered if anyone missed him. How long had he been out for? Who was holding him here? Where was here?
Tick-tock.
A door slammed and he tried to look around. Someone was coming. Was it his captor, or was it a hapless goon?
Tick-tock.
The battle danced in his mind. It was years ago, but yesterday. The goon came at him, snarling, brandishing a knife. The pain made Johnothan smile, made him feel alive.
Tick-tock.
The next one came, faster than the first. That did not save him. He toppled, like the first, into the black abyss below. The sweet kiss of the blade not meeting his flesh
Tick-tock.
His concentration broke.
The ticking had stopped.
Outside the room, the doctor sighed and ran a tired hand through his hair. At least the patient had responded to stimuli, even if it was just to start humming a meaningless tune. The young man in the room was frozen in time, his mind constantly travelling where clocks ticked.
The doctor walked away from the room. The hero had fallen before his time, and it was the doctor's job to pick up the pieces.
Long after his steps had stopped echoing in the corridor, sound continued.
Tick-tock.
A lone clock, on the wall.
Tick-tock.
Mon Jul 26, 2010 11:27 am