Fastest Meter

In the tall house Tocko lived Pim — and Pim took the stairs down, and started on the meters.

The wall down there was cold. Far along, the boiler breathed, once, and waited.

Twelve meters sat in a line, all little, all the same.
The first one was cold, and Pim put a hand on it.

Pim said, "Listen, that one ticks."

Hod from upstairs came down after her, and stood still.

Pim wanted her hand flat on the fast one.
Pim wanted to name the flat, out loud, and be right.

Pim said, "Listen, I say it first, and I win it."

Hod from upstairs said, "No. I say it first."

Pim said how it went, and Pim made it too hard.
One go each, and you had to say a number out loud.
A wrong flat, and you were out, all the way out.

Eleven of them went slow, and Pim knew that much already.
One of them did not.

Hall.

How many goes did Pim get — one, or two?

Ah. One go each. Pim made that rule.

Pim went along the line, hand out, meter to meter.
Slow, and slow, and slow, and slow again.

The meters ticked. Hod from upstairs did not.

Here it comes.

Pim listened. Tocko said — tk. tk. tk. That was the rule.

The one under her hand took its time, and Pim held on.
Far along, the boiler breathed, and the meter was slow as that.

So Pim said, "Listen, not this one, and not the next one, either."

The next one was slow, and the next, and the next.
Then Pim put a hand down, on the last one, and it was not.

It went quick under her hand, quick, and quick, and quick.
Pim took her hand off, and then Pim put it back on.

Then Pim said, "There it is, that one."

Pim, and Hod, and Pim's mum, and Tocko.

Eleven tick slow. One ticks fast.

The fast one went on and on, and Pim's hand stayed flat on it.
Pim said, "Number Five, and that one belongs to Hod."

Hod from upstairs said, "Right, so, it does not."

Pim did not wait, and Pim did not think twice.
Hod from upstairs was loud on the stairs, and loud in the Hall.

So Pim said, "It does, and you are the loudest thing here."

Then Hod from upstairs went still, and the Under went quiet.

Nothing, and then nothing again.

Here it comes.

Pim listened. Tocko said — tikkatikkatikka. That was the rule.

Over by the wall, Hod from upstairs moved, and a ladder came off.
It went down. It went CRASH, and the rattle went on and on.

The fast one did not care, and it did not miss one tick.

Hall. Green door.

Eleven tick slow. One ticks fast.

Pim said, "Go up, and turn your whole flat off."

Hod from upstairs said, "Four flights, then. Up I go."

Up the stairs went Hod from upstairs, loud, all the way.
Pim left her hand on the fast one.

Eleven tick slow. One ticks fast.

Far up, a radio went off, and then it all went quiet.
Down in the Under, the fast one did not change.

Hod from upstairs called down, "You said Five. You are out."

Pim said, "One more go. My hand stays on, and I say nothing."

Pim held on, and Pim said nothing. The boiler breathed, and breathed again.
Up past Five went the feet. Two more, and they stopped.

A knock came, up where the feet stopped, and a door came open.
Behind that door was a big glass tan— well. Nobody could see it.
It went hum, hum, hum.

Here it comes.

Something went CLICK, up there, and the hum went off.

Pim listened. Tocko said — tikka, tikka, tik. tik. tk. That was the rule.

Three quick ticks. Then slow, right under her hand.

A meter always got three more ticks first. All twelve did.

Which one was it — Five, or Seven?

Ah. Seven, and the hum that went off.

Pim said, "Seven. The fast one belongs to Seven."

Down came Hod from upstairs, all six flights, loud.
Hod from upstairs said, "Right, so, fish, and a tank of them."

Eleven tick slow. One ticks for fish.

> Twelve little meters, and each one belongs.
> Put your hand on the fast one, and hold on long.

Hall. Green door. Roof.

Now, the other way round.

CLICK, up on Seven, and the hum went off.
Under Pim's hand, the fast one went slow.

Five went off, and nothing changed at all.

CRASH went the ladder, and the fast one did not miss a tick.

At the start, eleven went tk. tk. tk. Then one went quick, and quick, and quick.

Pim heard it all, and Pim said the number first.

Pim, and Hod, and Pim's mum, and Tocko.

Eleven of them went slow, and one did not.

Hall. Green door. Roof. Home.

Pim said it first, and Pim said it right.

And Hod from upstairs said, "You kept your hand on. You win it."

Up in the Hall, Pim scraped a little meter on a brass disc, and a fish.
Pim said, "This one is for Seven, and the fish."

Then Pim hung it up, on the board, with all the other games.
Pim said, "Seven switched the pump off, so I could hear."

And back up to Number Three.

Pim put a hand on the pipe, and held it there.

Pim said, "Listen, Seven has fish, and the fish have a pump."

Now Pim could hear it, up there, all day and all night.

> Twelve little meters, and each one belongs.
> Put your hand on the fast one, and hold on long.

Roof, green door, hall — and home.

What made the fast one go slow — a radio, or a pump?

Ah. The pump, and the fish on Seven.

Two taps, and Tocko tapped back. Tock, tock.