The companions waited silently as the seconds crawled into minutes.
The seconds crawled past and took forever to become minutes as the crew chief tried desperately to raise the blimp.
The seconds crawled by and became minutes, and the minutes in turn piled up with agonising slowness until almost quarter of an hour had passed.
Roy took those seconds to crawl to the manual controls and get himself to his feet, never taking his eyes off his father.
As the seconds crawled past, Dolores forgot why she was struggling, when sleep would be so welcome.
While seconds crawled by, Spider stared at the handkerchief-shrouded face.
The seconds and minutes crawled by, but they gave her the chance to realize for the first time that she'd truly escaped from Turego.
The seconds crawl past as if they were anchored to the clock face.
The screen beeped twice, and the few seconds crawled by like lead snails before she answered the call.
The minutes and seconds crawled by.