local *HANDLE;
local $SIG{ALRM} = 'ignore';

my $x = 2;
################# UPDATE #######################
## Without removing my mistake above, so that
## anybody reading this node will note how
## silly (see Dominus's generous -cough- reply)
## I was (and I was silly to post code that I
## would never actually use and hadn't tested
## in a negative response to an almost saintly monk).
##
## The reason the code failed is because
## I need to do something like:
## use vars qw($x);
##  OR
## $main::x;
## Otherwise, local will fail (as per ctl's reponse)
## because it doesn't have access to "my"ed variables.
## It won't fail on the grounds that you shouldn't use
## local.
##
## Dominus didn't answer the response.
## There are still times when you need to use local
## (and saying only use IO::Handle or Symbol::gensym() or
## don't use SIG's is not an appropriate answer -- 
## sometimes we have no choice but to use FILEHANDLES
## and SIG's)
##
## Meanwhile maybe I should post a meditation about 
## answering with answers and not predispositions.
################# UPDATE #######################
sub A {
  local $x = 3;
  &B;
}
sub B{ $x }

print &A; #prints 3 not 2