“Well this is certainly nicer than my cheap Casio.” said Jonathan as he stood admiring the Omega Speedmaster adorning his wrist.
“You know…”The salesman behind the jewelry counter began, “that was the watch the astronauts were wearing when they set foot on the moon in 1969. Well, not that exact one of course but that was what they chose to go to space with during Apollo 11.”
“Oh trust me he knows.” quipped Jonathan’s wife Beverly. “He stays up many nights reading stuff like that. He’s obsessed with time.”
Afraid to look at the price tag dangling on a short string from the bracelet of the watch, Jonathan stalled. “Yeah it's a um, I don’t know I guess maybe it’s a fear of death or something.”
“Is that so?” replied the salesman.
“Yeah I um, well…” Jonathan broke his gaze from the watch to make eye contact once again before biting the bullet. “...we only have a limited amount of time in our lives so I guess I just want to make the most of every moment. That might sound corny.”
“No, no, no sir. Not at all. And what better way to keep track of the time than with that on your wrist?”
“You’re gonna get us into an accident.” joked Beverly as Jonathan drove them home. Jonathan chuckled “I just can’t stop looking at it. I can’t believe I finally bought it!” The new watch on his wrist gleamed the light from the street lamps as they continued home.
The next morning Jonathan arrived at the office a few minutes earlier than usual. Perhaps today he was eager to give his dream watch its office debut. After settling in at his desk tucked away in the windowless corner office he had occupied for as long as he could remember, Jonathan gave his new Omega a few last looks before realizing it was already 8:57am. The 9:00am meeting would be starting soon and now there was no longer time to get coffee from the employee cafe in the next building. Jonathan instantly regretted being so captivated by his new watch.
What was supposed to be an hour-long meeting ended surprisingly early at 9:32am and Jonathan immediately made his way to the cafe and returned a few minutes later. Jonathan set the freshly hot coffee on the corner of his desk and reminded himself there was absolutely no time to waste today because his daughter Lilly had a ballet recital at 6:00pm. Jonathan was looking forward to the added bonus of getting off work early seeing as he worked until late most nights. Working late was actually encouraged by the corporate overlords of Live Action Metaphysics Incorporated or LAMP for short.
Jonathan always rolled his eyes at the terrible pun that was made periodically when he and his other cohorts were encouraged to “burn the midnight oil” at a giant tech corporation conveniently called LAMP.
Being a project manager of a software development company whose primary goal was to “connect people” through the use of virtual reality headsets and various personal assistant apps came with plenty of perks but the main downside was the extra hours that came with the job.
While waiting for his coffee to cool, Jonathan began replying to emails. Just as he was about to reply to a third message his office door opened. “Lunch?” asked his coworker Andy while standing in the doorway. Confused, Jonathan looked at Andy. “Lunch? I haven’t even had my coffee yet.” Jonathan glanced down to see the cup still steaming.
Andy chuckled “C’mon man, it’s already noon. I was three cups in by ten thirty. Gotta pick up the pace.”
“Ten thirty? Andy, it’s not even-” Jonathan’s eyes widened to see 12:01pm displayed in the corner of his computer screen. Jonathan instantly glanced at his Speedmaster only for it to confirm the same time.
Shaking his head in bewilderment Jonathan declined. “I'm gonna stay in. I need to get out of here on time today. Lilly has a thing at six and I don't wanna be late.” “Rain check.” said Andy with a nod and closed the door to Jonathan’s office.
Jonathan slogged through the ensuing hours of the afternoon replying to emails, scheduling meetings, placing phone calls to various department heads, and crossing things off his seemingly never-ending to-do list stopping only for a moment every thirty minutes or so to check his new watch both for the time and a bit of visual pleasure. In a world filled with digital smart watches, many of which were worn by his coworkers and developed in-house at LAMP, Jonathan enjoyed simple wrist watches. Even his digital Casio only had functions limited to the time, date, day of the week, and a stopwatch. Jonathan was a purist who rejected modern smartwatches and believed wristwatches should be used only as tools of horology and nothing else.
Just as Jonathan activated the chronograph function of his new Speedmaster and was about to enjoy a sixty second break from his computer screen, his desk phone rang. Jonathan recognized the number as Beverly’s cellphone number. “That’s odd.” Jonathan said under his breath. Beverly rarely called Jonathan’s deskline. Jonathan answered a very annoyed sounding Beverly.
“Hi?”
“God dammit, I was afraid you’d answer there.” said Beverly.
“What do you mean, I’m-”
“I’ve been trying to reach you on your cell and you weren’t answering. They’ve already seated us.”
Jonathan pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, the screen glowing with 4 missed call notifications and 3 new text message notifications.
“Oh, uh I’m sorry. I didn’t even notice my phone going off. I must’ve-”
“I cannot believe you!” Beverly said angrily in a hushed whisper.
“You promised her you wouldn’t miss this and now I’m going to have to explain to her why the hell you’re not here!”
“Bev, I will be there. I was going to leave here right at five. Even with rush hour traffic I should still-”
“Five! Jonathan what the fuck are you talking about - that was an hour ago! I will see you at home.” The call disconnected.
Jonathan turned to his watch with the receiver still in his right hand. Five fifty seven. The watch was unapologetically defiant in soothing the earful Jonathan just received. Jonathan blinked incredulously and slowly hung the phone back up on the cradle. He stared at the wall in stunned disbelief and thought back to what felt like only a few moments ago. Jonathan forced himself to think back to approximately two minutes ago when he believed it was three forty seven. The numbers he witnessed displayed on the lower right corner of his computer screen now appeared burned into his vision.
3:47pm
Jonathan knew in his soul it was 3:47pm when Beverly called and not almost 6:00pm.
The next morning Jonathan arrived at the office physically but mentally his mind was still dwelling on Beverly’s words from the night before. “How is it you work at a place that literally builds shit for people to help them stay organized and yet you can’t even manage to show up on time for your own daughter! Didn’t your fucking Speedster or whatever the fuck it’s called show you the time clearly!” Beverly’s snarling echoed in his mind. Jonathan looked down at his reflection in the cup of steaming black coffee in his hand. Jonathan realized he was starting his morning with coffee unlike the day before.
It was at that moment it hit him.
Jonathan remembered he had a meeting the day before that prevented him from getting his usual cup of coffee that he enjoyed to kickstart his day. He didn’t have time to get his usual cup of coffee because he had been distracted or rather, mesmerized by his new watch. Jonathan twisted his wrist to take a look at his Speedmaster.
8:51am
He placed the coffee on his desk and opened the clasp of the watch to slide it off his wrist. “No more distractions.” he said with the exhale of a deep breath. Jonathan slipped the watch into his pocket and decided for today, he would stay focused on the time relying solely on the time display in the lower right corner of his computer screen. As he began to type his password in to unlock his computer screen, a familiar deafening roar sounded. “You gotta be kidding me.” Jonathan said to himself.
Jonathan sighed and stood up from his desk and walked to his office door. The sound of the custodian’s vacuum was coming from right outside his door. Jonathan cracked the door open and winced at the full effect of the noise being received by his ears. The custodian noticed the door ajar and smiled at Jonathan before looking back down at the vacuum for a moment. Jonathan remained in the doorway and the custodian noticed Jonathan neither closing the door nor exiting his office. The custodian shut the vacuum off and removed his earbuds.
“Hey Vincent, did someone spill something?” asked Jonathan trying to hide the annoyance on his face despite his heavy breathing and rapid blinking.
“Hi Mr. Jonathan. Uh, no. I was just getting started.”
Jonathan and Vincent stared at each other momentarily until Jonathan broke the silence.
“Getting started on what exactly?”
Vincent shrugged and looked around before replying “I usually vacuum the floor before starting on the bathrooms.”
Jonathan cocked his head slightly and squinted at Vincent before saying “Yeah, no, I get that Vincent it’s just you usually don’t come until what, like seven, seven-thirty?”
Vincent looked away sheepishly before replying “I know I’m getting a bit of a late start tonight. I had to watch my grandson for a little bit until his mom got home from work herself but don’t worry Mr. Jonathan I’ll have everything clean for tomorrow like usual. Should I vacuum your office last?”
“Last?” Jonathan asked, confused.
“Well yes, I didn’t realize you were still here so I assume you are working late tonight no?”
“Um, well I was planning on leaving early tonight actually.” Jonathan said confidently.
“I think they all beat you to it.” chuckled Vincent as he looked over his shoulder at the rest of the office floor. Jonathan opened the door fully to reveal the rest of the office. A sea of desks, cubicles, chairs, and computer screens sat motionless. The fifteen to twenty software engineers that would usually be milling about were nowhere to be found. Jonathan’s confusion at the emptiness of the office turned to horror as his eyes gazed at the floor to ceiling windows. The blackness of the windows made Jonathan’s blood run cold. The night sky suddenly made the LED lighting of the office seem bright enough to blind Jonathan.
“Is everything alright Mr. Jonathan?”
Jonathan ignored Vincent and began slowly walking towards the floor to ceiling windows that lined the outer perimeter of the cubicles. Jonathan felt his heart rate accelerate. The moon in the night sky stared back at him through the windows. Jonathan began to hyperventilate while beginning sentences his mind couldn’t focus on long enough to finish.
“How did-”...“Where did the-”...“I just-”
Jonathan heard Vincent’s vacuum resume which broke his fixation on the night arriving before his day had even begun. Jonathan felt beads of sweat forming on the back of his neck. “What…what happened to…my day? This can’t be hap-” Jonathan put his hand up to block the sunlight that suddenly reemerged in the sky. The sunlight lasted only a moment before the blackness of night returned. Then the cycle repeated. The sun rose, the sun set over and over again each time rapidly increasing in speed. Within a matter of about a minute, the sun and moon were trading off so rapidly, that a strobe-like effect began to take place.
Jonathan began to feel his body weighted with existential dread. He felt his body growing old. As his vision became burned from the strobe-like sunlight permeating his eyes, he looked down and watched the dust accumulate on his shoes. A layer of dust that would form on shoes untouched if left in a closet for a decade appeared within less than thirty seconds. Jonathan stood helpless as days, weeks, months, years, and decades came and went within a minute.
As Jonathan felt himself becoming lost in the slipstream between time and space, his mind crumbling from panic, a memory surfaced. The doorbell rang.
“Hi dad, come on in. I was just about to make some coffee. Jonathan’s in the other room playing with his new birthday gift.” Jonathan heard his mother say from the foyer. Jonathan’s grandfather entered the living room. “Jon my boy! Happy birthday! How old are you now, twenty one, twenty two?”
Jonathan chuckled “C’mon grandpa, you know I’m eleven today.” Jonathan’s grandfather took a seat on the couch next to him. Jonathan’s vision remained focused on the TV screen, his fingers rapidly clicking the video game controller in this hand.
“Wow look at that. They sure didn’t have anything like this when I was your age. These things sure have come a long way huh?” Jonathan remained silent, intently focused on his game.
“Jon my boy I wanna talk to you for a second. Can I tell you something? It’ll just take a minute I promise.” Jonathan paused the game and turned to look his grandfather in the eye.
“Look I know you’re still young and you enjoy these kinds of things and that’s all well and good but Jon, if there’s anything I can give you on your birthday today, it’s a bit of wisdom. Okay?”
Jonathan nodded.
“Listen, you’ll have time for these games while you’re young but someday you’re gonna be older. Some day you’ll grow up. Trust me-” Jonathan’s grandfather turned his head slightly to catch a glimpse of himself in the decorative mirror on the opposite wall of the living room “-it goes much faster than you might think. If there’s anything you should ever remember, remember this.”
Jonathan leaned in towards his grandfather.
“Don’t waste your time Jon. Because if you do, time will most certainly waste you.”
