Cuckoo!

Can a stopped clock be of use? No. This was what I thought when I glimpsed at the cuckoo clock, only about five meters away from me. If only the minute hand moved about 30 degrees clockwise, the cuckoo inside its wooden house would be set free to chirp. I waited for the pleasant sound of the cuckoo as the numbers of my phone clock pointed at noon. Silence. I took off my headphones. Again, silence. Alas, I remembered that the clock only informed the time twice a day. How unfortunate! The cuckoo would have to wait a bit longer to enjoy its intake of fresh air.

Regretting that I didn’t change the batteries when I had more spare time, I stood up to change the batteries of the clock. I stood still for a second, for my brain screamed at me to postpone the tedious task. After some thought, I gave in. After all, what could go wrong with a stopped clock?

Eventually, I did change the batteries, didn’t I?’ I told myself as I looked back at myself from seven years ago, who did not seem to give much thought to the cuckoo clock.

Seven years have passed since I eventually overcome my laziness, seven years have passed since my grandfather first lay down peacefully beneath his tombstone, leaving his cuckoo clock in my family’s hands, and seven years have passed since the cuckoo faithfully served my family as a clock. Now, it has been three days since the cuckoo last chirped, finally realizing that its original master has passed away, then staying inside its wooden cage to mourn. Well, leave it to weep. Maybe it’ll come out again when I get a new battery.

Caring to fetch a new battery from the clock shop; is this such a challenging task? No, the clock shop is only at about a 15-minute ride by bus. Is it something for which I’m eager? To be frank, no. The job, although not challenging, is still time-consuming. Then what makes the 19-year-old me different from the 12-year-old me? I’d say it is the way I feel towards the cuckoo clock. 

Every general household had a typical analog clock back then, including the cuckoo clock. Currently, there are not many analog clocks that are used. As technology proved itself to be developing faster than we had expected, everyone now has a cellphone, which is maybe more accessible in terms of checking the time. The steady ticking of the analog clock, and in the case of the cuckoo clock, the musical cuckoo when the minute hand lands on 12, is slowly disappearing. And personally, the replacement of analog clocks to digital clocks is disappointing to me.

Never could I forget the days when I lay on my grandfather’s lap while he read me a book. I remember the days when the rhythmic ticking of the cuckoo clock lulled me to sleep. I remember the days I would always doze off on my grandfather’s lap when the cuckoo sounded eleven times. I remember the days when I relaxed in my chair, listening carefully to seconds ticking away with my eyes closed. I remember that I miss those days, snuggling under the blankets at home, a place where the cuckoo would cry every hour.

The digital era has come, no more cuckoo noises, no more tick-tock to tell the time, only stiff numbers that radiate electromagnetic waves. Maybe some are delighted by the change, for after all, digitalization is convenient and exact. To me, however, the cuckoo clock going into hiding symbolizes the end of the good old days that I yearn for so much in this day, and why I cannot leave the cuckoo to be trapped inside its wooden cage any longer. What use is a clock that has stopped? My answer does not change. A clock that has stopped does not have a purpose, but that does not mean the stopped clock should be left alone to accept its fate of being replaced by a digital clock. With every cuckoo chirp, time may pass away- but ironically, we are able to look back and take a glimpse of what has now passed away.