Mary Migley



WATCH



        Except for the tiny spot of white background where the date is displayed, the only colors the wristwatch has the pleasure of possessing are black and silver.  It is a slim watch, designed for a "lady" or any other person that falls under the category of female, with a simple design and none of those fancy, extra features, like an alarm or a glow-in-the-dark face.  Nevertheless, it serves its purpose just fine and is everything a watch that
cost ten dollars should be.
        
        The numbers the three hands point to are slightly raised silver that flash when they catch the light.  For some reason, the numbers are shiny enough to be visible through any reflection of light on the glass covering, but the three hands become obscured and I have to tilt the watch this way or that in order to tell which direction they are pointing.  I can forgive the hands for not being visible though, because they can deftly point to the
numbers in such a clever fashion that they designate the time.  Not only that, but the thinnest hand also ticks methodically to count off the seconds.  The sound is almost always undetectable, but in complete silence, the "tick tick ticką" is so loud I have to wonder why I cannot hear it anywhere else.


        The black cheaply-made straps shine as well, although more muted compared to the shiny numbers and reflective glass.  The black color gives them a sense of style and  elegant simplicity.  Dented lines run in irregular circles along these falsely dignifiedstraps. Whether they exist to create texture or to make it appear as if they were made from animal is unclear to me.  The straps are a bit stiff, perhaps due to its relative newness, which creates difficulty when trying to thread one strap through the little loop
of thin material encircling the other strap.   Due to this struggle of pushing the stiff band through a tiny space, the loop has already become worn and stretched, and I fear it will not live as long a life as the watch.  Unfortunately, despite the annoyance and harm caused by this task, the one strap needs to be thread through that little loop; otherwise, the strap would stick straight out in defiance, looking quite awkward, and the loop would
appear noticeably out of place standing alone.


        One stiff - yet still elegant - strap ends like a buckle, with the elongated half-circle divided by a thin, hinged bar made out of metal.  Along the other strap in a straight line, six holes punctuated at even integrals are available for easy adjusting.  The fifth hole from the end has be well-loved and oft-used, resulting in its larger, stretched out size.  If these holes are not used properly, the potentially perfect-fitting watch would turn into an
ill-fitting watch.  If the watch is worn too loose, for example, caused by pushing the buckle mechanism through a hole closer to the end than needed, then the watch would slide up and down along the user's arm.  If the watch is too tight, on the other hand, it would press against the skin so much that an outline will thus be imprinted on the arm, leaving a temporary remnant of its presence once it is taken off.


        The face of the watch claims that it is "100FT WATER RESISTANT QUARTZ."
I am not exactly sure what this means, but I am guessing that if I were to find 101 feet of water and then submerge my watch under it all, not only would my watch become extremely wet, it would also cease to work, for it can only resist a hundred feet.  Luckily for my watch, I do not plan on ever submerging it under 101 feet of water.  It's not even worn in the shower.  If my watch were to break, I would no longer have any use for it, not even for decorative purposes.  While it may look elegant as a watch, it would not do for a bracelet.  Besides, explaining why I am wearing a decoy watch to countless
inquiring strangers curious about the time would become tiresome.
        
        The watch is also equipped with a potentially useful dial with which one can adjust the hands.  This will become useful whenever I need to adjust the time, which is dependent on how the hands are positioned.  This handy dial is located on the side of the face, around where an ear would be positioned if the watch's face were actually a human head.


        The watch in general has a mixed scent of rubber and metal.  Ironically, a mix of rubber and metal could also be used to describe the taste of my watch, if one were to lick it.  Since rubber and metal are not usually considered pleasant smells nor tastes, this explains why watches were not made to be sniffed or licked.  The sight of me sniffing or licking my watch is a rare one indeed.


        Overall, the watch makes a nice companion.  As long as I strap it on properly, it will not leave me unexpectedly.  Not only that, but it will answer all my questions, as long as all my questions are some form of "what time is it?"  Another plus is that my watch will probably not break unless I hit it with a rock or anything equally heavy, which is something I will avoid doing, especially when my watch is on my wrist.  In addition, when strangers ask me for the time, having my watch with me will be extremely helpful in answering.  There is not much else a ten-dollar watch could offer.