{"id":1227,"date":"2022-06-16T08:03:18","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T08:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1227"},"modified":"2022-06-16T08:03:22","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T08:03:22","slug":"stop-the-clocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/stop-the-clocks\/1227\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop the Clocks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"stop<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My heart races against the clock. As 17:59 becomes 18:00, it looks like the word \u2018Boo.\u2019 Mum says a swear-word and I jump. My swimming lesson starts now but we haven\u2019t even parked the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the radio, the newsreader says an asteroid will narrowly miss Earth tonight. I picture myself riding it, flames shooting behind me, and diving into the pool just in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mum stops the car so suddenly that I jolt forward. \u2018Jump out here, Thomas!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My bag is wedged in the space in front of my seat. I tug while another clock inside my head counts down until Mum explodes. Beside me, she inflates like a balloon. Three, two, one\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u2018Thomas!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bag breaks free, and my water-bottle tumbles out with a clunk. I scramble out of the car and leave it rolling around in the footwell. The door catches on the seatbelt, only half-clicking shut. I can hear Mum\u2019s anger in the slam of the door behind me as I run, bag slapping my legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the edge of the pool wasn\u2019t digging into the backs of my knees, I wouldn\u2019t know where the water ends and the air begins. The oxygen is thick with chlorine. How am I so thirsty in a liquid room? I picture my bottle leaking in the car and tears well in my eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the wall, the pace-clock whizzes round and round. My swimming hat is squeezing my head so tightly it aches. Muffled sounds bounce off the walls. I wish it would all stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Go!\u2019 My coach\u2019s voice cuts through the noise. Water splashes me from either side as everyone else jumps in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I plunge in after them, a cool stillness washing over me, and slowly drift along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Thomas! Thomas!\u2019 they chant when I reach the other side of the pool. I didn\u2019t realise it was a race. I\u2019m last. The pace-clock wags its red finger at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, in the bath, I dip my head under water to drown out my parents\u2019 voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Hurry, Thomas! It\u2019s bedtime!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are no clocks ticking here. Silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until a loud boom rips through my watery shell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sit up, the bath water rippling. Soft sounds swell in the darkness like bubbles. Mum sobbing, Dad whispering. They come into the bathroom and Mum\u2019s carrying a candle, the tears on her cheeks sparkling in the flickering light. Dad wraps a towel around me. I breathe in the scent of washing powder but it\u2019s mixed with the smoky air, filling me with fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018It\u2019s a solar eclipse,\u2019 says Mum in a shaky voice. \u2018People are having fireworks.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mum and Dad sit on the edge of my bed and give me a pill to help me sleep. I\u2019ll wake when the sun does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing my eyes, I tune into the tick-tock of the clock. It\u2019s like being under water. Time slows until the tick-tock stops and I\u2019m a fish, floating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A distant light glows. With a flick of my tail, I swim towards it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My heart races against the clock. As 17:59 becomes 18:00, it looks like the word \u2018Boo.\u2019 Mum says a swear-word and I jump. My swimming lesson starts now but we haven\u2019t even parked the car. On the radio, the newsreader says an asteroid will narrowly miss Earth tonight. I picture myself riding it, flames shooting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158782359051062_103813597863211":"","twitter_1225722811282530305_1225722811282530305":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[597,633],"tags":[634,13,12],"class_list":["post-1227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-597","category-june-2022-time","tag-clock","tag-me","tag-my"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbrNJE-jN","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1227"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1232,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227\/revisions\/1232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}