Oh, if only I could bring my fingers together to snap again! Then I would be fine; I couldn't. The air around me got thicker. Breathing got harder. Straining, I tried to bring them together again. They were so close, but somehow, I knew that I wouldn't make it. A sweat broke out on my forehead. They were only an inch apart.

There were many times when I thought I was scared, but I never knew fear until I heard the train's whistle blow, sounding faintly in the distance.

No no no no no no noooooo, I wasn't ready! It isn't my time!

I tried to get my fingers together to snap again, for the last time in my life, but I was out of time. I was running on borrowed time, I had used too much, and for something as unimportant as a Christmas Eve Party.

I broke into sobs. Why? Why did I do this to myself?! If only I could pause again, give myself more time. The train was coming, and I would have to pay my debts.

The train broke through the wall behind the hearth, the candles melted down to nothing, and the hourglass shattered.

It was then that I realized how foolish I had been, because time is a gift.

And there was never enough.