He sat at an empty desk at the front of a pristine classroom on the top floor and stared at the clock at the top of the wall opposite to him. He watched the second hand move, inciting the minute hand, and evidently the hour hand, to move. There was what seemed to be a struggle in the motions of the second hand. It was a war.

Dark knights on black horses against an army of steel, an army of hope. The two forces collided, but it was a slaughter. The dark knights pierced through their hopeful enemies and crippled their wills. They advanced further into their formation, but nothing could be done to stop their approach. Their weapons, armor, and bodies littered the field. The man watched the second hand travel around the clock, as well as the slow minute hand. When the minute hand struck 12, and the last knight from the steel army fell, the number 1 from the clock shattered and disappeared.

Once again, the army of steel came back to the field, but this time, there were more knights. As for the dark knights, there were fewer, but riding meaner horses with larger weapons and bodies. They fought, but the steel knights could not resist the rampage from the dark knights. The minute hand struck 12 again, and the number 2 shattered on the clock.

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This went on for hours as the man simply watched it all happen. The army of steel knights grew and grew, while the dark knights became fewer and fewer. However, the dark knights always came back fiercer, stronger, and bigger. The numbers 3, 4, 5, 6 all fell from the clock, all the way to 11.

On the twelfth hour, there was a massive Knight in pitch black armor wielding a sword the size of a tree. It was against a sea of knights in steel armor, roaring in the face of its upcoming adversity. It was sad, in a way, for them to always return with new hope and to be crushed over and over again. There was no defeating the dark knights.

The second, minute, and hour hand all struck 12 and shattered it, along with the three hands. All that was left was a blank quartz clock covered by glass.

The man looked out of the windows that lined the wall to his left and stared at the tree.