I sit in a quiet room, taking a moment to breathe in the serenity that seems to float in the air like a cloud of fog, and listening to the silence. Listening carefully, I notice that silence, an apparent absence of sound, is a symphony in itself; it is an orchestration kept alive by a carefully beating drum. I focus on the beats of the drum, observing that its rhythm pulsates steadily and surely. When I look, I make a discovery and burst out laughing. At this moment, precisely at 1.43pm, I realize that the incessant pulse is not the rhythm of tranquility, but rather the ticking of my watch. A small, thin gold band strapped to my wrist, the watch is a living creature; it has a face, hands, a heartbeat. It has its own mechanized mind, a willpower to keep moving forward at the same pace despite the circumstances; some of the most durable watches even tick underwater. With each rapid movement of the second hand, a human being laughed, some shed tears, one was overtaken by death, and yet another received the gift of life. Just like the individuals that make up the human race, these curious creatures come in all shapes and sizes, each with their own beauty. My watch, an example of those delicate timepieces secured with a gold or silver band, resembles a bracelet. However, there are watches with thicker straps; some with leather, plastic and even swathes of bulky fabric; watches with big, bold numbers; clocks with only dots or diamond-shaped accents to represent the twelve hours; as well as the contemporary digital watch. Despite the endless assortment of watches, each of them serves the same purpose: to create a structure in which those who ride the roller coaster of modernized life must ride among paper and not just created. a world where our slavery to time is inevitable, but now we are pushing the limits to race against time. We are no longer satisfied with waiting three days to receive information by mail; we simply send a fax or email by pressing a button or clicking a mouse. In a civilization that craves instant gratification, both in terms of financial transactions and communication, speed has become the most precious commodity. Our newly conceived definitions of the words "fast" and "slow" are resetting the biological clocks of younger generations. My watch tells me several hours have passed as I explained every nuance of the weather, but I have numerous tasks to complete before the curtain falls on the fifth of February, two thousand and three. I better get these tasks done before I realize I've wasted too much time.