The needles of time -TheInkwell- Creative Nonfiction Prompt #47

When we were little, the four of us children lived with our mother in a house that a cousin named Piedad Acuña lent her. This house was very close to the Cathedral Church of Cumaná-Venezuela.

The patio of the house had fruit trees. From that courtyard we could see the part of the church where its clock is located, which marks the time through the pealing of its bells, driven by the movement of its needles.

This instrument became indispensable to us. When we got up, we would run to the courtyard to contemplate the needles of the clock. When someone in the house needed to know the time, we would go to the yard. Since I was the youngest and starting elementary school, I had a lot of difficulty learning in the time. My sister Maria Teresa taught me by telling me:

"When the needle big of the clock is on the number twelve and the needle little one on the number three, it is three o'clock."

After a while, driven by curiosity, I went back to the yard and could see that the big needle was at twelve o'clock and the little one at four o'clock. I ran to where my sister was and explained to her the position of the needles of the clock. And I said to her:

"You mean it's four o'clock" She nodded and said to me:

How clever you are, we went to the yard and I noticed that the big needle had moved and was on the little line number 5 on the right side of the clock.

I asked her:

What happened to the big needle that it is not in the place where I left it, when I went to see you?

My sister smiled with a sweetness on her face, which I still remember very fondly. Then she explained:

Those little stripes you say are the minutes on the clock. When the small needle is at 4 o'clock and the big needle slides to the right side, and is placed on the little line number ten, then it is 4 o'clock and 10 minutes.

In that situation I was with my sister for two months, she also explained to me the importance of the needle that marks the seconds, it was worth a few explanations until I finally learned, the hours of the clock.

My mother, while doing her chores at home, had no need to get up from her sewing machine. By the number of chimes the clock struck, she knew what time it was.

When I went to sixth grade, my sister, who had started working with her first paycheck, bought a watch and with it in her hand called me:

Ramonita run and see what I brought you!

When I saw that watch, my heart beat faster with joy, my eyes widened at the sight of that garment that meant so much to me. With my voice cracking, I asked

"Is what I am seeing true, or is it a mirage?"

Maria Teresa lovingly told me:

"It is a reality, take it away".

She put it on my arm and said:

"I hope you keep it and when you see its needles move, you remember me".

I hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear:

"Thank you, sister, I love you very much."

She explained to me:

"It is a watch of a good brand "Lanco" It works with the pulse, that is, while you have it on, its needles will move. When you take it off, they stop".

From that moment on, I only took off my watch to take a bath or for any activity that might damage it. I no longer needed to go out into the courtyard to check the time on the church clock.

Time passed and technology brought cell phones that tell time digitally. I kept this clock. I still have it, I only use it when I go to a reception, as it has a very important value to me.

Over the years. We moved to another house in a neighborhood away from the church. There we had no more contact with that watch. Living in that house near it taught me a very important lesson. I learned to know the time through the movement of its needles, which is something so fundamental in life.