Short Story: Lost Watch

I’ve lost my watch. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve had it. I wore it everyday, now it’s missing. All morning I tore up my apartment looking for it. The first place to check was the bedside table. It wasn’t on it and it wasn’t in the drawers. It wasn’t under it or near by where it might have fallen and gotten kicked. Not there. Next I checked my closet, perhaps it was in a drawer somewhere or at the bottom of a pile of clothes. Each item in my closet was moved to the bedroom floor but still no watch. I tore the sheets off my bed but it was still missing.

I knocked on my neighbor's door in case he knew. He was unable to help. I called my parents, it’s possible it had been left at their house last Christmas. They also were no help. Perhaps it fell off. I retraced my walk to a nearby cafe. I’ve never noticed how many drains I walk over until now. I made plans to call the city, see if I could search down there. The rain soaked leaves made the task time consuming. I moved every leaf on the path but no luck. I walked in the cafe to my usual greeting. I asked if anyone had seen my watch. They had not.

I walked back home, reexamining the ground. I just now got home, I’m at my desk, writing messages to anyone that could help. I needed to know the last time everyone had seen me with the watch on. Has it been months? Years? I remember a kind lady complimenting it a few years ago. Then I was proud of it. What happened?

Truthfully, I had forgotten about my watch. I haven’t worn it for a while and have gotten used to life without it. Now I can hardly remember what it looked like. I remember it being silver or gray with a scuffed crown from where I dropped it. It had only been a few weeks since I bought it. I was upset. Not only would it forever be changed but I had failed as its owner. I would have returned it right then if I thought they would have accepted it. I spent nearly a year saving up for it. It was a bi-compax. I was new to the world of high end watches.

It’s important to me that I find it.

I did come close to finding it. In the bottom of a box that had remained unopened since I moved in two summers ago I found a silver bi-compax watch with a scuffed crown. Unfortunately, it wasn’t my watch. I can tell. It’s different. I don’t know where it came from or how it got in my box but it’s not my watch. It’s not as warm. It’s indifferent to me.