203

the ticking of a clock sounds in the old case. such is the magic of old things - they remember what they once were, what their intended purpose was - even after they have long fallen from such uses. the brass and gear, cogs and springs, are long gone. the wood painted, stripped, and aged with oiling. someone replaced a tack foot with a bigger plastic one that sets it off kilter. the writing on the back lists random dates - "1941", "95" (or is that "75"?) - and faint penciled words that cannot be interpreted. the paper inside indicates it is much older, but gives no date itself. at some point it appears that someone stuck stickers to the glass in an attempt to make the clock look more appealing and less plain. whatever history it had, it has a new future now full of a new purpose, full of new memories.