Hold Back Tomorrow

In Short

This story explores the psychological toll of near-immortality in a society where longevity is the norm. It follows Margy, a girl who rejects the long, arduous process of maturing, choosing instead to live as an adolescent in a state of arrested development. By examining the tension between the desire for eternal innocence and the social pressure to accept the responsibilities of age, the narrative captures the profound existential dread of those who refuse to grow up. It remains a poignant, unsettling meditation on the fear of death and the passing of time.

The Story

The story unfolds in a meticulously landscaped, lush world where citizens live for hundreds of years. The population is divided between those who embrace the slow, deliberate journey toward adulthood and those who, like Margy, struggle against it. Margy attempts to maintain the illusion of being a teenager, hiding the truth of her existence from those around her. She spends her days in a school setting designed for the young, but the cracks in her facade are appearing. Her teacher, an elderly woman showing the physical signs of having lived four hundred years, serves as a constant, horrifying reminder of what awaits everyone.

Margy is pursued by Clyde, a boy who feels the pressure to mature and seeks a partner to share the burden of his inevitable transition into adulthood. Clyde believes that marriage to someone like Margy will provide the stability needed to navigate the long, complex process of growing up. Despite her terror, Margy engages with him, though she constantly attempts to steer their conversations away from maturity, death, and the future. She wants only to remain in the "now," to keep things simple and pretty, and to avoid the wisdom—and the physical decline—that come with centuries of life.

The pressure reaches a breaking point when Clyde proposes marriage, seeing it as a way for them to "last" together. Margy is overwhelmed by a mixture of love, desperation, and shame. She tries to force a romantic intimacy that Clyde, sensing her strange, frantic detachment, eventually rejects. He senses that there is something fundamentally wrong with her, something that defies the social order.

The climax occurs at school, where Margy is summoned to a room to meet with a coordinator and Clyde’s parents. The confrontation is quiet but devastating. They ask about her "adult band," a signifier of her place in the life cycle that she lacks. When they challenge her age, suggesting she is actually much older than she pretends, the truth collapses. Margy is revealed as a "Revert"—someone who has refused to accept the reality of their lifespan and has attempted to retreat into a permanent, artificial youth. As she is led away to be processed by the authorities, she remains defiant, sobbing that she only ever wanted to stay young and that she never meant to hurt anyone.

How It Unfolds

The encounter on the wall Clyde approaches Margy at the schoolyard wall, attempting to initiate a conversation about their teacher’s aging process. Margy recoils from the subject, her fear of mortality manifesting as a desperate need to keep their interaction light and superficial.

The walk after school Under the guise of a casual stroll, Clyde attempts to bridge the gap between their childhood and the daunting future. He pressures Margy to agree to an "early first marriage," believing it is the only way for them to survive the transition to adulthood.

The secret meeting Margy lures Clyde to the library and then the lakeshore, driven by a panicked need to be loved before he slips away into adulthood. She attempts to hold onto him through physical intimacy, but her desperation only serves to alienate him further, leading to his rejection.

The final confrontation Margy is summoned to a room where the coordinator and Clyde’s parents wait, having uncovered her deception. The facade of her youth is stripped away as they question her, revealing that she is a "Revert" who has tried to escape the natural order.

The People

Margy is the story’s tragic center. She is defined by an intense, paralyzing fear of death and decay. She wants to be loved, but she equates love with a static, childlike state of existence. Her desire to remain young is a form of survival mechanism that ultimately isolates her from everyone around her.

Clyde serves as the foil to Margy’s delusion. He is an earnest, somewhat awkward boy who feels the crushing weight of the centuries ahead of him. He seeks to "grow up" and wants a partner to help him navigate the responsibilities of a long life. While he is initially drawn to Margy, his eventual confusion and fear highlight the chasm between those who accept their fate and those who fight it.

The Coordinator represents the cold, administrative reality of their society. He is not malicious, but he is entirely committed to the social order. He views Margy’s refusal to mature as a pathology that must be dealt with, transforming her from a person into a "Revert" who must be collected.

In Its Own Voice

Margy’s internal monologue highlights her rejection of the long life society demands of her:

"It was so good to be young, Margy knew. She never wanted to be an adult--grow old and die in five centuries. That must not happen...."

Her conversation with Clyde reveals the terrifying, inescapable nature of time:

"I'm afraid to think about dying," she said, and it was the most important thing in the world to make him understand that.

What It's Really About

At its core, the book is a study of the psychological burden of immortality. It questions whether life has meaning without the finite boundaries that define human existence. Margy’s struggle is not just against aging, but against the loss of simplicity. The story argues that the pressure to conform to a social mandate—in this case, the duty to "grow up" and accept a centuries-long life—can be as destructive as the death one is trying to avoid. By creating a society where death is a distant but inevitable destination, the author highlights the irony that a life without an end can become a life without a present.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in philosophical science fiction will find much to admire here. The atmosphere is heavy with a sense of "impending doom," and the prose captures the specific, sharp terror of a young person realizing that the world is not as simple as they once believed. It is a quiet, claustrophobic read that succeeds because it keeps its focus small—on the tension between two people on a park bench—rather than on the mechanics of its world.

It is worth noting that the story reflects the mid-century science fiction style of its era, focusing heavily on internal psychological states and social conformity. Readers who prefer fast-paced action or detailed world-building might find the slow, dialogue-heavy exploration of Margy’s mental state challenging. However, for those who appreciate character-driven stories that grapple with the fear of existence, the haunting image of Margy—standing in a doorway, waiting for her life as she knows it to be taken away—will linger long after the final page. It is a sensitive look at the human desire to stop the clock, even when the clock is the only thing keeping the world moving.