Tick Tock

• Kim Ly, Grade 12, John Monash Science School
• Short Story
• 2014

Excellence Award in the 'The Text Generation 2014' competition

“Don’t you want to know?” her friends asked, over and over again.
She tugged the sleeves over her wrist.
It made her uneasy to think that she’d meet her soul mate according to the numbers on her wrist. She wanted the moment to be right, to feel right, not just because a string of numbers, however accurate they may be, indicated so.
She longed for the romance in books. Princess being swept off their feet, riding on the backs of white horses towards magnificent castles. Men nervously appearing on doorsteps, hiding a beautiful bouquet behind their backs, waiting to ask the girl of their dreams out for just one date. The sweaty palms, the nervous giggles, the red cheeks.
Nevertheless, Jessie knew that her time was close. The exact numbers slipped her mind, but she knew that soon it would be her turn. The mere thought of it made her tummy flutter.
***
Jessie placed her bag down on the seat. Fifteen minutes until her bus. She swung her legs, and counted the cars that had driven past.
Fifty two, fifty three, fifty four. Still seven minutes to go.
Seventy eight, seventy nine.
She began to smooth out the creases in her favourite blue skirt when Jessie heard a bark, followed by a loud gasp. On the other side of the road was a couple profusely apologizing to a young man in a suit for spilling his coffee. She watched as the man bent over and petted the miniature creature.
She only managed to catch snippets of the conversation.
“We’re so sorry… new dog… will buy new coffee..”
“Don’t fret… cold anyway…” the man smiled as he stood up.
His eyes caught hers.
Time slowed down. Jessie could feel the thumping of her heart, she could hear her pulse rushing to her ears, and feel her stomach fluttering. Was this what they called butterflies in your stomach? Well they should have called it hummingbirds, because it felt like god damn hurricanes. Her cheeks began to burn up. The sound of her heartbeat got louder and louder with every passing moment. Her hands began to shake and her knees turned into jelly. Thank god she was already sitting down, she wasn’t sure her legs would have been able to support her had she been standing.
The man’s smile grew as he began to wave. Excitement washed over him as he took a step onto the road.
Jessie suddenly realized what was happening.
“NO,” she screamed. But it was too late. She could only watch as red stained the white shirt.
She ran towards the limp figure. “No, no, no,” she whispered, “please, God, no.”
She lifted up his sleeve.
Her hands began to shake uncontrollably, as she slowly reached for her own. Her trembling fingers could hardly grasp the textile. With great difficulty, she lifted up her sleeve.
She could feel the air being knocked out of her.
Jessie’s clock had also stopped at 0d 0h 0m 1s.