Disclaimer: The Television series, Hogan's Heroes, belongs to CBS, Bing Crosby Productions, and its creators Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy. I do not own these characters and I am not making a profit from this story. I am just taking these characters out for a walk in the park and I promise to return them in one piece.
Colonel Robert Hogan lay full dressed on the top bunk in his private quarters. The barracks was silent, everyone having gone to bed hours ago, yet the Senior Prisoner of War was wide awake. His men, Sergeant Andrew Carter and Corporal's Louis LeBeau and Peter Newkirk, were currently on a mission and were not due back for another hour. Hogan laced his fingers together and slipped them under his head and sighed, closing his eyes. He hated waiting. Maybe he would go down into the tunnel and keep Kinch company at the radio.
The worried Colonel stopped his musings as his watch ticked loudly in his left ear. Pausing, Hogan let his mind clear as he focused on the steady rhythm, counting along with the ticking, taking comfort in the steady consistency that he himself was not feeling.
Enthralled by the ticking, Hogan's mind wondered back to his men. Suddenly, Hogan's eyes flew open as a horrifying realization dawned on him. Here he was, counting the seconds to pass the time, when he could be counting the very seconds of his men's lives away. Every mission has its risks, but what if tonight was the night when his men would not return?
The Senior POW sat up, dangling his feet over the edge of the bunk as anxiety consumed him. Their time at Stalag XIII was limited, whether it came with the end of the war or their deaths, but what if tonight was the night when the proverbial clock of Carter, LeBeau, and Newkirk's lives stopped ticking?
Hogan climbed down from his bunk and began to pace in the small confines of the office. Being aware of the ticking of his watch, the tiny sound became all consuming, bouncing off the walls as his heart matched the rhythm. Hogan paused as a new sound reached his ears—soft footsteps approaching his door. The Senior POW watched expectantly as the door opened a crack and Sergeant Kinchloe's head appeared.
"They just got back, Colonel. The mission was a success." the radioman reported with a smile.
Hogan returned the smile. "Thanks, Kinch."
The Colonel sighed with relief as the door closed, leaving Hogan once again with his thoughts. Time had not run out for his men tonight, they had been granted another day to live—another day to plan, plot, and harass the Germans. For time ticks ever onward and waits for no one, and Hogan was willing to accept that precious time for as long as he drew breath and his proverbial watch of life kept ticking on.
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