A Potential Second

tick...tick...tick...

Sometimes there is nothing substantially fulfilling to do to pass the seconds of our lives away. Sometimes I will find 

myself standing in one spot of my bedroom or my office, staring blankly, either out the window at the Pacific, or 

at my self-loathing reflection in a mirror. The clock ticks in succession with the air that I breath, and I ponder 

how I should spend my breaths. Questioning whether or not I should spend my time reading a book, being in 

someone else's head, or if I should go for a drive down the beach, stop at the Pier Cafe and have some hot 

coffee while staring, again, obliviously out the window into the ocean. But it is all the while I am staring that I am 

contemplating my choices, how I should spend my time. There are so many options, and if I make the wrong 

choice where will that take me? Sometimes the endless variety of options and decisions and choices are 

overwhelming, and I will consequently end up doing nothing. Staring, sitting, thinking. I could be reading right 

now, laughing, I could be talking to a beautiful new face on the beach, fresh in the cool breeze. I could be 

walking in the shore with a girl, with a dog for that matter, and be having a better time than I am now, thinking 

about it. But will the ticking clock allow me to make a decision? I sit now in a leather chair, gazing at the clock 

mantled on the wall like its an endless valley of time. There could be a potential second where I am standing up 

from the chair, I am walking to my car, and I am going somewhere. There could be a potential second where I 

stand up and shatter all of the mirrors in the house, so I don't ever have to catch a glimpse of that conflicted 

person anymore. Every second has its potential. But the action lies in my clenched fist, in my heavy feet, in my 

questioning brain. The clock continues to tick. It has been almost a whole day; I have watched that potential 

second hand circle the clock fourteen hundred times,  and I still can't figure out what to do with myself. 

Reviews

[Benjamin]

I have spent many a day just as this, I can feel the tension in the story. So many almosts and possible preludes to a day full of potential.

[ZackOfBridge]

This! This was a great reflective piece that seemed to have purpose and drive. I loved it Max

[Chadvonswan]

Thank ya very much, Zackary, i preeshy8 it!!

[ZackOfBridge]

Congrats on the contest!