A shooting star, to me, is the perfect image of quickness. While you are watching one it may seem to last for minutes. But in reality, the star only lasts for a second. Quickness to me is a measurement of the speed of an action or moment. Calvino describes quickness as time in a story or the lack of time in a story. I find this to be an interesting but frustrating topic. As a clock watcher I always want to know what time it is and frequently in stories time is not referred to at all. I think of fairy tales and fantasy stories as being nefarious for doing this. But they have a purpose in doing so. By not adding a time stamp, it makes them more believable. A perfect example of this is the King Arthur legends. They will refer to time by the passing of the seasons but no year, month, or day is attached. In this way the legends are made more possible by not saying exactly when they happened. The Star Wars introduction is the same, a long long time ago… Time is not always necessary. Calvino says that some factors are not needed in stories to get the main idea across and time is one of them. I enjoy knowing when something is taking place but just because I do not does not mean I enjoy the story any less. Quickness is definitely an idea that authors of the future need to remember.