Ticker

The sun began to rise and pierce through the dirty windows of the cluster of houses located on the city's edge. Within the least dirty house sat two parents looking at a phone lying in the center of the table. A girl cautiously peers around the corner into the kitchen and inches her way to the kitchen table where her parents are already seated. As she sits down, she pulls her knees to her chest and notices that the kitchen still looks the same as it did from dinner last night. Her mom was still in her robe that she put on last night, the same as her dad. And as her parents stayed in the kitchen, she sat and on her bed, sick with worry waiting for an acceptable time to leave her room.

As they look at the phone, they begin to hear crying and screaming shaking the walls of their home and hearts. They each looked to one another and then the phone knowing that at any time now, the message would come. Izzy could hear more people wailing as the sun climbed higher into the sky; before she could reach across the table to grasp her mother’s hand, the phone started to ring, causing everyone to freeze and look at each other. Izzy quickly drew her hand back as her father picked up the phone and stood up to read the message.

"It is with honor that we congratulate the Monger household on Izzy Monger graduating from Public High School 268. Below is the doctor and appointment time for Ms. Monger to receive her ticker. Failure to appear at the appointment may result in the forfeit of her ticker. Once she has received her ticker, she will be allowed to attend Public High School 268 graduation on May 22, 2079, at 6:00 pm at the school stadium."

Izzy sat in shock and fell out of her chair as her mother leaped to hug her. Mrs. Monger did not care about her daughter being on the floor; she got down to her knees and pulled her daughter to her, crying. She couldn't help the tears that fell down her face, coating her daughter's skin and hair. In shock, Izzy sat frozen to the floor, blinded by her mother she did not know that her father had gotten on the floor with them until she felt his arms around them both. She could feel their sobs shake their bodies, and at that point, she finally relaxed, and all the sleep she missed for the past few days caught up to her. It never occurred to her that she was exhausted with worry until this moment. The quiet sobbing in the Monger house gave way to the wailing outside as parents discovered the fates of their children.

Izzy laid on the floor with her head in her mother's lap. She slept as her parents sat beside her with their backs against the wall, just taking in the moment. And while they were happy Izzy would live, it was heartwrenching to tune out the wails that should have gotten quieter but were getting louder instead.

"You know I thought this moment would never come." Mr. Monger said quietly, with tears flowing down his face. "I was so worried that she wouldn't be enough. That we would lose her."

Mrs. Monger wanted to say something, but she was speechless; her ticker that laid under her shirt was working so hard it moved with every tick. Relief, fear, worry, love, hate all poured themselves into her ticker. Her hand gently rubbed the top of her daughter's head as she twirled her ticker between her fingers.

* * *

Izzy and her parents stood outside the appointed doctor’s office. Dr. Wallaby's office was on the edge of the city, with all the worker families. Mr. Monger reached out to open the door, before he could, one of Izzy's classmates pushed past the family with his crying mother following behind. Izzy's eyes naturally followed the bag grasped tightly in his hands. A part of Izzy wanted to follow, but her mother and father put their hands on her shoulder and silently shook their heads. Izzy knew there was nothing she could do, but her heart was beating hard at the guilt she was feeling from being able to live while knowing someone else was going to die.

Mr. Monger guided his family into the sweltering doctor's office, which was empty of people. The family sat in the small waiting room and listened to the clock ticking on the wall. It was time for Izzy's appointment, but all they could do was wait and try to be patient. As time passed, her mother played with the cuff of her shirt sleeve, and her father tapped his foot. Izzy knew he wanted to ask what was taking so long, but people like them had to wait, they always had to wait.

"Aw, Izzy, so nice to see you." Dr. Wallaby stood in the doorway in his frumpy clothes. Izzy looked to her parents, and they looked back and nodded. "Because Izzy is receiving a ticker, you will not be allowed to follow her for her adjustments."

This news caused Izzy to dig her nails into her hand; she had planned for her parents to be with her. Her words were stuck in her mouth and refused to stumble out. Before she could get too worked up, her father kissed her on the side of her head, and her mother squeezed her hand.

"Izzy, you got this." Her father's words were quiet but firm.

"We will be right here waiting for you." Her mother was calm and at peace.

Feeling the strength of her parents, she walked toward the doctor. She still could not say anything, but she could face what was to come.

"Now, don't you worry, you'll be back before you know it." The doctor waved to her parents and led Izzy to an examination room at the end of the small hallway. "I know you probably didn't even know I had another room, but I usually keep it closed, especially since I only use it during one time of the year."

As the lights flickered on, Izzy saw the chamber she would lay in as her ticker was formed. It was white except for the glass that covered her body. On the back wall was a panel that she figured Dr. Wallaby would use to form her ticker. He walked to the ticker chamber and pushed a button that opened the glass.

"Well, come on, we don't have all day." Izzy felt her feet move without her permission, regardless she made it to the chamber and laid down.

"You know this is the quietest you have been since the day you were born."

Izzy thought for a minute, she knew she was afraid and that this was an unknown. All she knew was that she was stuck; for the past few weeks, her words were few, and now they were none at all. The glass closed, and a warm sensation covered her body.

"You know it is quite normal not to have anything to say." Dr. Wallaby started typing away at the computer off to the side of the panel. "As you have gotten older, your heart has been getting weaker, your entire body has been working harder for you to live. Often times many stop talking; they simply do not have the energy to do so. In a minute, the chamber is going to compensate for what your heart can not do. It will also put you through a range of emotions."

Izzy was half listening to what the doctor had to say as she watched his fingers move across the keyboard. The warm sensation increase, and suddenly Izzy felt as if she could breathe for the first time in months. Her lungs filled with air, and tears coated her eyes. After a few minutes of heavy breathing, she relaxed and felt different.

"What did you do?" Dr. Wallaby turned towards Izzy's high-pitched voice. "I feel different, I can talk, I…."

"The chamber is now working for your heart and body" Dr. Wallaby turned back to his computer and continued to work.

"Okay. Will I die before my ticker is done?" As she asked the question, there was no fear, just the need for an answer.

"I do not want you to worry about that." Izzy could sense this was something he did not want to talk about.

"I don't want to know for me, you know." Izzy looks in the doctor's direction. "If I die, I die, but my parents, it would kill them. I don't want them to hurt anymore than they have to."

At Izzy's words, the doctor stopped typing, turned to Izzy, and gave her a half-smile. "Out of all my patients this year, you are the one I will worry about the least."

As the doctor started typing again Izzy felt funny, her heart was fluttering and the idea of hope was starting to take seed in her mind. A part of her knew the chamber was manipulating her emotions, but now she had thoughts and emotions she had avoided. She would now be able to graduate, decided her career path, maybe even find someone to love. Just when her heart was full of hope everything went dark, and the machine stopped.

A few seconds later, the lights flickered back on, and the doctor was standing above the chamber with something in his hand. He pushed the button, and the glass opened. As soon as it did, Izzy sat up with the help of the doctor. He opened his hand to reveal a small heart-shaped locket that moved with every tick it made. Izzy reached out and took her ticker from him and put it around her neck, and for the first time in a long time, she smiled, and she could feel. Looking down at the heart-shaped locket around her neck, she undid the latch to see what was inside. The inside of her ticker looked like cogs of a clock. Her heartbeats started to match the ticks of the locket, and instead of the slow sluggish beat that had became its norm, it was starting to beat the way it was meant to.

“Dr. Wallaby, I think I should go show my parents my ticker.”

The doctor hesitated before moving to the side and gesturing toward the door. “By all means, of course, I am sure that your parents are worried.”

Izzy hurried past the doctor and made it to the waiting room to see her father pacing and her mother wringing her fingers. They were so beside themselves they did not notice Izzy.

“Mom, Dad.” They both turned at the same time to see their little girl happy and smiling. They both ran to her and crushed her to them, all the while the doctor watched, his eyes never moving from the touching family moment. “I finally graduated.”