With slow deliberate movements I placed the open watch on the floor. There was just something additionally unsettling about holding it considering what I was about to attempt. Nervously I shifted my pajama top and looked about for a suitable test item.

Whether due to serendipity or the general threadbare nature of most of my clothing, the last button on my shirt dropped off, bounced once, and came to a rocking stop innocently beside the watch. It’s like it’s volunteering, I told myself.

Probably being overly careful, I pulled my legs up onto the bed. I wound up laying face down with my head over the edge, staring down into the nothing behind the open watch face. My fingers grasped the button gingerly, held it over the watch, then released.

To be honest, I half expected the button to bounce off or just sit there on top of the apparent hole. The other part of me expected it to explode, thus the legs coming up on the bed. But it just fell, right through the watch, silently and completely gone.