The glinting dial slipped past, gathering momentum and moving by with the same precise agility. Swinging with the call of each second, each flicker of light and humming recitation.
'Pendulum'� chuckled the crouching figure, leaning lazily against the bitter air around him. Broken concrete hung off the walls, iron poles weaseled though the decaying timbers. A bomb disaster, the stamp of destruction's boot, a print of idiot demise. The voice sighed and continued its quiet charade.
'Four'�five'�'� he waited anxiously for the bronze medallion to pass again, trot by his sight with the ease of knowing what it would do next. The rafters above creaked and cracked with sore and calloused bones. Shivering just enough to quicken the suspended prize, the man gulped and curled his fingers tighter.
'Six'�'� he watched the pendulum with nervous hope. Wondering if the next swing would last, the man trembled.
'Six'�'� he whispered ''�Seven?'� The bright object coughed and fell, trying to reach the earth below, but kept lassoed by the heavy chain his fingers held.
'Six'� the man sighed and dropped the medal, letting it fall in a cloud of stagnant dust. The man patted his uniform, groaned, and jumped from his steady beam, pounding the pendulum into the dirt as he landed on it. Then he walked away into the blazing fog. Another blast echoed through the ancient barn, and the man was lost forever.

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