The Last Tick

[Tick — the heartbeat tick, steady, pads beneath it already grieving] [Blows — bass pulse heavier, low brass swells hitting in slow dark waves, tick flinching off-grid] [Lament — horns holding long mournful tones, the synth lament rising above, flute breathing last phrases] [Fading — tick slower now, brass darker and closer, sorrow and dread pressing down] [Climax — the full brass swell, devastating, lament crying at its peak — then total cut] [Death — only the tick... slowing... irregular... one more... stops] [Silence — two bars of nothing, then one last low horn breath, far away, gone]