the clock is not

Bells ring from the church at the end of the alley, and a mobile 'phone alarm sounds from the son's bedroom. It is eight in the morning, Easter Sunday. What news there is on the net has been read, and now there is time to think of making yet another cup of coffee.
The sun is still low, and the town outside is quieter than it ever was, even on a Sunday.

The clock has stopped, it stopped at midnight. It is a small clock from France, well, it may be that the battery has just run down. The son appears from his bedroom, his face full of sleep.
He has a device for measuring electrical batteries in his room, ask him if he could. Take down the clock, take out the battery. The son makes a measurement.
The battery is in order, the clock is not.


That is a bad start to the day.
A day to be spent at home.
To abide by the rules.
to contain the contagion.

Take the clock down, put in a fresh battery.
Just in case it makes a difference.
It does not.

Take the clock down again
Examine the tiny contacts, they are covered in black corrosion.
It is from the copper and the brass, maybe the electric current helped.

With the tip of the screwdriver remove the deposits, carefully scratching.
The old eyes do not help, these things are all very small.
It takes a short while, then the contacts are clean again.

Hang the clock back onto it's place on the wall, let the pendulum swing.
Now it swings and does not stop.