The Slower Path

And my heart dropped to the floor with a dull thud as an incessant ticking began to echo above the symphonies carried from the neighbouring room. The laughter, the chatter, the future, all mattered very little compared to the steady cacophony that filled my ears with a resounding fear. I peered desperately into the fireplace for something other than flames licking menacingly at the charred driftwood; waiting for the man who would save us all.