The Golden Age

It’s nap time in a children’s hospital, but Frank Gold, the new boy, sneaks out of bed and into his wheelchair, knowing that the nurses will be dozing in the afternoon heat. He peeks into the girls’ ward, hoping to cat a glimpse of his friend Elsa, whose golden hair is usually visible through the crack in the door. Today, she’s not there.

Unobserved by any adults, Frank rolls outside and produces a cigarette that he stole from his mother, Ida, the last time she visited. For a moment he feels bad, thinking of his mother searching for her cigarettes after a stressful afternoon at the hospital. But he also takes pride in his sneakiness; to him, it’s an act of privacy and even maturity, a “resistance” to a place where he’s treated like a baby and has no personal space.

Frank briefly recalls his arrival at the hospital. Even though Sister Penny was friendly and almost naively cheerful to him, he knew it was impossible to test or rile her. Compared to the other, mostly younger children, he felt like a “pirate” surrounded by “little maimed animals.”

Frank finally stops by the clothes line, where he can hear the noise from a nearby factory. He’s happy to be outside in the strong light; ever since he caught polio, light has seemed “less bright to him, older, sadder.” However, he can’t light the match properly and becomes frustrated. The hospital gardener, Norm Whitehouse, suddenly sees him, but rather than confiscating his cigarettes, he offers him a light and walks away without questioning him.

After one pull on the cigarette, Frank has to toss it away and lean against the fence, nauseous. He’s not used to smoking and his body, while older than those of the other patients, is still weak from polio. Frank feels satisfied at having accomplished something private and forbidden, and grateful for Norm’s complicity. Still, he wonders where Elsa is.