A Passage of Time

“We’re running out of time.” I said to myself. “Or at least I am!” 

I don’t think I said the words out loud but they were certainly in my thoughts. Very soon we will be told to put down our pens and pass our papers forward. And I havn’t even answered one single question. My mind has just gone blank. I am just sitting staring at the questions. Why was I having problems. This was one of my favourite subjects. English Literature and miraculously the book chosen was Shakespeare’s Merchant in Venice. I should not be having problems especially as our teacher had taken us to London to the Globe Theatre to see a performance. Seeing it come to life on the stage was inspiring especially as the theatre itself had been built exactly the same as the original Globe in Shakespeare’s time. 

 “Think, think, think. No, don’t think.  Just let your mind take hold.” I said inwardly to myself. “Put yourself on that stage and look around. Look at the clothing, take a step forward and feel the cloth, notice the people around, the swords, the headgear. Hear the Elizabethan language and rhyming couplets. Go back in time. 

Glancing at the clock on the far wall I see it has been 30 minutes since we turned over our papers to begin the exam. I wished they didn’t have a clock in the room. Can’t help but look at it every few minutes. I’m beginning to hate everything associated with time. It just surrounds you, eats you up, makes you feel inadequate, dictates your every move and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. It is a master unto itself and we are just minions bidding to its every whim.

I can remember when I was about 12 years old and walking with my Dad to the railway station for him to catch his train. We were passing the town hall and the clock on the rooftop sounded four big bongs. I turned to my father and said:

I would hate living on this street”

         “Why’s that?”

“Because every moment you are reminded that time is just ticking away. The very word TIME is a nuisance. It invades us and is repeated again and again during the day. Take for instance, ‘it’s time to get up’, ‘it’s time to have a bath’, ‘it’s tea time’, ‘it’s time to…”

“Time we step up our pace or I’ll miss the train which is always on time”

“You see. You just said TIME twice in the same sentence. Then there’s the units of time such as ‘hang on a sec’, ‘just a minute’, and ‘let’s call it a day’. 

         ‘Is this some project you’re doing?

         “No, just my idle curiosity. Does it bother you that you have to answer to time all the time – see I’ve said it again. Seriously though, you work at an office and have to be there at a certain time and can’t leave until a certain time.

         “That’s not time’s fault. That is because without some order of time, it would be chaos. Can’t have people just wandering in and out just when they felt like it. And if I’m honest, time does keep me focused.”

         “Well I just don’t like it. And on the subject of time, was it you who turned the clock in the hall to its right time? I’ve rely on the fact that I have 10 minutes to spare before I leave for school and whoever did that made me late. Or at least I would have been if I hadn’t noticed the clock in the lounge. Then I had to rush and peddle like a fiend and only just managed to arrive before assembly.”

         “I think its time you had a watch or dare I say time piece”

         “Oh heavens help me. Now you really want me to be a victim of time. I would much rather go by the sun and the stars.”

         “What would you do if it was overcast like it is today. No sun. How would you know when it was time to come home for instance?”

         “When I started to feel hungry. But that wouldn’t work would it.  I’m hungry all the time because I’m a growing girl. Oh I know, I would tell by the buses. The number 10 always leaves the station at exactly 10 minutes past the hour and 20 minutes beforehand. Every 30 minutes.”

         “Yes, but what is the hour? And how does the bus driver know it’s 10 past or 20 minutes to? He has to either look at his watch or go by the station clock.”

         “Now you’re just making it difficult. There has to be another way.”

         “Well right now, we have to scoot. Maybe you didn’t hear the clock strike 4.30?”

         “I did, but I was choosing to ignore it. 

         “Well darling girl, I heard the engineer’s whistle so I’m… dare I say it?  Just in the nick of time. See you in a few day’s time. 

         “Ok Dad. But don’t be surprised when you’re back that I have found a way to make time stand still so that we are not constantly running after and running out of time.”

         “You have fifteen minutes left” the voice broke into my reminiscences and brought me back to the task at hand. In what seemed like hours but was only minutes, I had traveled back in time to my childhood. I remembered the conversation like it was yesterday. My Dad was so indulgent with my chattering and save the world ideas. But now, I had to get this exam finished. The blank space between my ears had vanished and in its place were a myriad of answers. Scribbling as fast as I could, I whizzed through the pages. A lot were multiple choice and those I didn’t know, I just winged it. Had I bought myself a bit of time I thought to myself. Those next 15 minutes did seem to be elongating, even pausing, to give me more time. Time and Tide waits for no man. Who said that. Not important right now. Just keep going. I was reminded of a line in the play “Your mind is tossing on the ocean”. It certainly seemed that way. Concentrate.

“Pens down. Pass your papers forward”.. 

I had made it. At least about 80% of the questions, which, if a good percentage were right, would be a passing mark. 

Walking home I also remembered another bit of the same conversation I had with my Dad. I was stating that it was fascinating that every second made us go from the past to the present to the future. We had both shouted out

“Yesterday is Today is Tomorrow”

Is this the true meaning of Time and that it really will never run out. Only time will tell.