Einstein said that time is relative. He said it’s a delicate, predictable fabric that can’t be torn. But time can’t be measured. It ebbs and flows.

7:00 am. Yawn, wake up, stretch like a cat. 7:00 am, Ohio time. Open blinds, stare into sky.

12:00 pm, London time. A broken writer sits at a café, vying for inspiration that won’t come.

1:00 pm, Paris time. A young couple walks down a sunny path. He runs his hand through her tawny hair, and she smiles.

2:00 pm, Athens time. An elderly man stands on the top rung of a ladder, picking the last of the olives from the tree.

3:00 pm, Moscow time. A skinny cat picks at the remains of a fish lying on the side of the street.

12:00 pm, Ohio time. Reading a novel of a writer unknown. Faraway voice calls for lunch.

5:00 pm, London time. Café owner chases young writer out. Wanders streets, homeless and solitary.

6:00 pm, Paris time. Dinner by candlelight. She takes his hand and he strokes her face.

7:00 pm, Athens time. Old man loads baskets of olives into cart, wheels into marketplace.

8:00 pm, Moscow time. Cold pierces thin fur. Cat longs for warmth of shelter, of open arms.

4:00 pm, Ohio time. Writing poem about empty shells. Scratch out lines, add new.

9:00 pm, London time. Pangs of hunger haunt writer, cold chills his bones. Warm light floods from open door. Soft face appears in doorway. Come, stay here tonight, it says.

10:00 pm, Paris time. Couple gazes over city from Eiffel Tower. He takes her face in his hands and they kiss with Paris as witness.

11:00 pm, Athens time. Man wheels cart back to house late. Beggar child shivers on mat nearby. Man scoops a handful of olives from basket and gives them to child, who accepts with a look of gratitude.

12:00 pm, Moscow time. Cat shivers, exhausted. Then, wrapped in warmth. A little girl scoops up cat, carries into hut. Car purrs in front of fire.

Time is never relative. Time has no boundaries, and it treats us as its chessmen. The best we can do is take the world blow by blow and never underestimate the power of time.