但是她看上去很小。好像她里面的东西消失了,好像她已经干燥了。几乎是时代。但还不是。他们的分离会造成这么大的损害吗?他怀疑。他的妻子以来,自从他最后一次见到她以来,他就变得虚弱了,他不喜欢这样。尽管他有敌意,但他还是感到担忧。
(But she looked-smaller. As if something in her had dwindled away, as if she had dried up. It was almost-age. Yet not quite. Could their separation have done this much damage? He doubted it. His wife, since he had seen her last, had become frail, and he did not like this; despite his animosity he felt concern.)
在菲利普·K·迪克(Philip K. Dick)的“现在等待去年”中,叙述者在相隔一段时间后再次见到她时,反思了妻子的恶化。他注意到她的身体脆弱性,并感知了一种变化,表明她失去了活力,几乎就像她过早老化一样。这种观察触发了他内心的各种情绪,揭示了他对她的复杂感。尽管有任何仇恨,但她努力应对分离的影响时,她的福祉仍然出现。
叙述者质疑他们之间的距离是否可能导致她的状况大幅下降。尽管他对时间分开造成的损害的程度表示怀疑,但他不能忽略她脆弱的迹象。这一反思的时刻突出了人际关系的更深层主题以及分离可以带给个人的损失,揭示了情感冲突和对她对她改变状态的回应时的凄美融合。