once upon a time there was an orange desk lamp with a small green sticker attached to it. it was sad because it didn't have any other desk lamps to play with. it would get swtiched on occasionally and illuminate the desk it was attached to, and then get switched off, and that was its life. an endless succession of impatient and annoyingly hot lightbulbs were screwed in and out of it at 6 month intervals. they complained constantly of being uncomfortable in the lamp's socket but really it was the lamp who suffered most because they would get so hot the lamp thought its shade would melt. the green sticker tried to peel itself off to get away from the scorching metal but had been stuck on too firmly. then one day a clock was placed on the desk underneath the lamp. the clock was very full of itself, self-congratulatingly proclaiming the time in a loud bossy voice to anyone who would listen. it thought its face was the most beautiful face in the world and would flip its hands around and around vainly. well right away it took a liking to the desk lamp because it imagined that the desk lamp was a spotlight in whose glory the clock basked in front of an admiring crowd. but the desk lamp was indifferent. the clock became more and more attached to the desk lamp, calling it brilliant. but then the lamp was taken away and replaced by fluorescent fixtures, cold and aloof, who illuminated everything evenly, so that the clock was no more special than the typewriter or the stapler. the lamp was put near a window where it could watch the cars go by during the day and admire its reflection at night. it particularly liked the way it could see the the little text on the surface of the lightbulb reflected in the rain as it streamed down the window pane on a cold stormy march evening. the clock ticked as loud as it could but all the lamp heard was the cars going by and the sound of people shuffling by in the hallway.