When Thomas woke the next morning his gold wristwatch was hanging limply on his thin arm. He took it off and gave it to Mary to be packed with his clothes as they got dressed. Thomas felt like he was surrendering the last vestiges of his adulthood as he dropped the watch into the huge hand of the woman who towered over him. For Thomas, his rolodex wristwatch was a symbol of everything he’d achieved as an adult; his mother had given him the gold watch when he had graduated college and he’d worn it ever since. All that had gone before was wiped out by the simple act of relinquishing his treasured watch to his wife. His watch, like his married life, didn’t befit a man in a child’s body. His mother’s selfless hand had yanked him out of adulthood and pulled him inexorably back into his youth.

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details?