Once upon a clock, there was a time. Of course there was a time, it's a clock! Okay, start over...
Once upon a clock, the little mouse stopped to rest a while. It had been a long climb getting on top of that clock, which was made by the Hickory Clickory Clock Company (though some of the letters where it said "hickory clickory clock" had been worn away, so it looked like "hickory dickory dock"). It was fairly peaceful up there, above human concerns like time. He could rest there for hours without having to worry about whether he would miss his meeting or appointment, or mealtimes, or scheduled being-chased by-a-cat time. He could just rest, snooze, doze off, zzzzz... maybe think about cheese he'd eat... or whatever mice dream of. Just sit there... maybe he could imagine he was Hermux Tantamoq and he could fix the clock...
A loud noise, like a bell, interrupted the mouse's thoughts. "Oh, no", thought the mouse. "I'm late to lunch!" And down the clock he ran.