Second Hand
Anticipation, loss, and the elusive “best” moment
He found the watch half-buried in the damp sand during his evening jog. He bent down to investigate, brushed away a clump of seaweed, and there it was—its glass face gleaming under the setting sun, the numbers beneath corroded by salt water.
A single line, etched on the back in curlicue script, read: This watch will stop at the best moment of your life.
He tilted it in his palm, half-expecting some battery corrosion. Instead, the second hand gave the tiniest, most deliberate twitch, like it was thinking.
On the walk home, he kept stealing glances at the watch. The humidity was outrageous—so thick you could practically drown in it. His hair curled against his neck in slow, damp waves. Cars drifted by, windows rolled up tight, with the air conditioners on max. He navigated cracked sidewalks littered with wet leaves blown down from a recent storm.
When he got home, his wife was in the kitchen, sleeves pushed up, chopping vegetables for dinner. There was a podcast she liked playing in the background—some true-crime thing about a missing lottery winner—she paused it as soon as she saw his face.
“Everything okay?” she asked, mid-chop.
He held the watch out carefully, like an offering. “I found this on the beach,” he said, his voice filled with subdued excitement. “It’s supposed to stop at the best moment of my life.”
She frowned. “What are you talking about?”
He handed it over, tapping the inscription. “I’m serious. It’s written right here.”
She read it, gave a short laugh, and then looked at him the way someone might look at a hopeful kid. She started chopping carrots again, rhythmically. “If it makes you happy, I’ll be happy with you,” she said, tossing him a small, affectionate smile.
The watch went everywhere with him—tucked into his jean pocket during grocery runs, laying on his nightstand while he slept. He pulled it out to confirm that it was still ticking, that some cosmic alignment hadn’t arrived. Weeks blurred into months. His excitement curdled into an unstoppable anticipation.
At dinner one night, between bites of overcooked pasta, he checked the watch for the tenth time in what must have been ten minutes.
She slammed a plate down. “Enough,” she hissed, exasperated. The veins in her neck stood out like cords. “If you stare at that watch again, I swear I’ll throw it out the fucking window. Stop. Just stop.”
He froze, one hand clenched around the watch. “I just want to see what the best moment of my life is,” he managed, smiling weakly. “It could happen anytime.”
She shook her head. “I don’t care! Why can’t the best moment be right now? What’s wrong with you?”
Time slowed to a crawl yet somehow raced ahead. He found himself turning every pleasant exchange with her into an inventory check—was this joke enough, this morning kiss enough, this random Tuesday enough? Each time, the second hand kept up its persistent tick.
“How are you still obsessed with that thing?” she snapped when an argument about laundry spiraled back to the watch.
“You don’t believe in me,” he said, hearing the strange, hollow ring in his voice.
She let out a bitter laugh. “God, this has nothing to do with believing in you. You want me to believe in some mystical watch that’ll stop at the perfect second like life can be pinned down to a perfect moment. It’s absurd. You know that’s not how happiness works.”
Her features softened in that instant, and for a fraction of a moment, he thought: It might stop now. But then she grabbed her purse, keys, and phone.
She walked to the door, spoke quietly over her shoulder. “I need to clear my head.” Her footsteps were heavy on the porch, then lighter as they faded into the night.
His heart pounded. He lifted the watch, needing to see—needing confirmation.
It was silent. The second hand was frozen, mid-step, and caught in the moment she walked away.
A wave of emptiness rolled over him, dissolving every imagined scenario he’d built up over these months. He turned the watch over in his hand, he watched the lifeless gears glint. He understood the promise was also a trick: best wasn’t a synonym for euphoria or triumph. The best moment was a pivot—a raw, defining clarity that could taste like heartbreak, freedom, or both.
The hands were still. He placed the watch on the counter, next to the unwashed carrots and the dinner plates she’d left behind. For the first time, he realized that life wasn’t about searching for one singular peak of happiness—but about noticing, in its absence, all the moments he’d let slip by.
This is excellent! Such a great premise! I was about to reread it. I do that, especially with works that really spark my imagination and are well-written. How can I not? I’ve heard people say they never re-read. To me, there’s nothing better than recapturing the feelings evoked or the thoughts generated. Thanks, Aaron. Now, on to that second read!