Member-only story
FICTION
His Father’s Watch
A story about a bright but restless man
Peter Sidenius is a young, bright, and ambitious man — but like many such men, he is also restless. Knowing life has greatness in store for him, he sets out to study engineering at the University of Copenhagen, leaving his home in 19th–century rural Denmark behind.
“Pete,” as he prefers to be called, is only too eager to get away from his family, particularly his father, a strict, overbearing, and deeply pious Calvinist preacher. Nevertheless, the man has one last gift in store for his son. “This,” he says, revealing an old pocket watch in his hand. “The day I left home, all I had from my father was this watch. For you, in the hope that it can soothe your hardened heart, and open your stubborn mind.” Unimpressed by one more of his father’s countless attempts to guilt him into faith with yet another spiritual lecture, Pete refuses the gift. His father gets angry and slaps him. It would be their final encounter.
Years later, Pete has indeed made a bit of a name for himself. Copenhagen’s high society sees him as a brilliant scientist, and, to an extent, he is. Though overconfident and often arrogant, Pete’s civil engineering plans for transforming Denmark into a more sustainable, richer country find open ears among a rich Jewish family. Taken in by them, he…