by Joe Shaboo
The top of the mountain was very, very quiet… a noise could barely be heard except for the rain, the whistling wind and the song of a lonely bird. Two rocks, one flower, one tree and one bird lived on top of Mt. Kashmeerz …until early one morning the rocks began talking for the first time in four billion years.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning,” the rock said to the rock. “You’re up early today.”
“I’ve decided to go for a roll.”
“A roll?” replied the rock. “Down …to the bottom?”
“Sure. Why not? We’ve been sitting here for four billion years. There must be something else to see.”
“But what if there’s not?” said the rock to the rock.
“And what if the bottom is just like the top?”
Before it could answer, the rock slipped off the edge of the mountain top and began tumbling up and over and over, flipping up and spinning in the air, dangerously out of control. It smacked up against an old stonewall and finally flopped over to a stop near the edge of a grassy field. An old wooden barn stood nearby.
An old farmer, who lived inside the barn, walked outside to check on the loud noise. He walked towards the wall and noticed the rock leaning up against all the others already in the wall. The farmer picked it up and, after dusting off some soil, he decided to carry it back to his workshop…where he drilled a hole, attached some springs and, after a shine and a polish he made the rock into a beautiful, working clock.
It was perfect timing! If the farmer could walk to the bottom of the mountain and sell the clock to the owner of the clock shop then he would have enough money to pay for the mortgage on the farm. So, early in the morning, the farmer walked all the way down to the bottom of the mountain to visit the owner of the clock shop in the valley.
By sunrise, the farmer made the walk into the valley where he met with the owner of the clock shop. After listening carefully to the clock, the owner and the farmer both agreed that every second sounded like no other second either one of them had ever heard before.
The owner bought the clock from the farmer and soon newspapers reported about the spectacular sound. Within days, people from all around the world were visiting the clock shop just to listen to the curious clock. Tourists stood outside in the street and stared through the shop’s store windows, in silence, as the second hand swept around the clock one second at a time. Inside, the tourists crowded together and listened carefully to the sound of the clock as each second passed. “Blick-Block. Blick-Block…”
The owner made a swift business selling ‘Blick-Block’ key chains and knick-knacks to the tourists, but the clock itself wasn’t for sale. It simply sat on a shelf like all the other clocks telling time with “Blick-Blocks” instead of “Tick-Tocks.”
The sound of the new clock didn’t bother anybody except for Tick-Tock who was the grumpy, old grandfather clock. He used to be the main attraction in the shop but now nobody seemed to be listening to his hourly chimes any longer. Instead, he was forced to listen to the new clock every second of the day and, quite frankly, this made the grandfather clock sick to his gears. One night, after the owner went home and the tourists and newspaper reporters all drove away, Tick-Tock spoke to the new clock for the very first time.
"You make a nice sound there, kid.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“My name is Tick-Tock and I’m in charge of all these clocks. I’m the oldest clock in this shop."
“ It’s nice to meet you.”
“You think you’re funny, kid? You’re name is Blick-Block, right?”
“I guess. I don’t really have a name. I’m a rock.”
“Are you familiar with clocks, Blick-Block?”
“I’m not quite sure what you mean…”
“Did you notice the sound of your clock is different than all the others?”
“Like I said, I’m not really sure what you mean.”
“The sound of a clock is the sound of tick-tock. You must learn to tick-tock or you can not be a clock.”
“I really don’t know anything about being a clock. I’m really just a rock."
"Is this your first time in this shop, Blick-Block?”
“I used to live at the top of the mountain. A farmer found me…it’s actually quite a long story…”
“Well, a clock is for ticking and tocking not for blicking and blocking. If you want to be a good clock you must learn to tick-tock. Watch me for a second." The grandfather clock proudly swept his giant pendulum back and forth, back and forth…but every time he ticked, the other clock blicked. And every time he tocked, the other clock blocked.
"Enough already!" said the grandfather clock. "If you want to be a clock then you will learn to tick-tock. I've been ticking and tocking for many, many years. My wheels are well oiled and so are my gears, but never have I ever heard a blick or a block from a blick-blocking clock inside of this shop! You will do as I say. You will do as I do. I don't want to hear another blick-block out of you!"
But one second later the clock was blick-blocking. “Blick-Block. Blick-Block.”
"It is Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock!" yelled the grandfather clock. He was very, very angry. "All the other clocks are ticking and tocking so why aren’t you? If you want to be a good clock you must learn to tick-tock! Do you understand?" But it was no use! Every time the grandfather clock ticked, Blick-Block blicked! And every time he tocked, Blick-Block blocked!
“What am I supposed to do? I tick and I tock all day in this shop, then along comes a clock who dares to blick-block? There is no such thing as a blick-blocking clock! The sound of a clock is the sound of tick-tock!”
Then suddenly a noise was heard from a clock that sounded quite different than a tick or a tock. The clock began ringing, another began binging, another began bonging and another began donging! Soon, all of the clocks inside of the shop were making new noises instead of tick and tock!
“What’s happening to my shop?” screeched the grandfather clock. He was forced to listen to the sounds of the clocks. He listened to the dings. He listened to the dongs. He listened to the bings and the bells of the bongs. For the very first time, there were so many clocks singing a song of different tick-tocks. "What a beautiful sound! It’s music to my gears! That’s the most beautiful music that I’ve heard in years!"
The beautiful music inside of the shop made it up the mountain to the rock at the top.
“Ding-Dong, Bing-Bong, Blick-Block, Tick-Tock.”
“Ding-Dong, Bing-Bong, Blick-Block, Tick-Tock.”
The rock at the top listened to the music.
He listened to the sound…
He was happy for the happiness his old friend had found.
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