The watch began to tick
. The sounds he had become accustomed to, the roaring
and gurgling
of the river, the wailing
and whining
of the wind, the pattering
and dripping
of rain, the
chirrupping
of birds and the
chirring
of insects, had natural, irregular rhythms, which were very soothing, but the steady, mechanical tempo
of the watch gave him something he had been wanting in this wild
place. It and the book
helped him feel connected to the
civilized
world he’d come from. He had no use for the time the watch could tell, but he needed the ticking
.