My father works for a smartphone company that keeps coming up with new technology, which makes people fall for new devices every year. Technology, on one side, comes up with new features and devices and, on the other hand, it makes the existing devices redundant. Though my father’s organization innovates new devices and features, still he has kept those outdated devices in our house. Not sure, whether he has kept them to stay grounded and to remind himself how far he has come or perhaps to flaunt about his and his team’s achievements; as he quite often shows those devices to me and his friends to illustrate how technology has changed our lives.

The incident that I am going to share with you is one of the scariest moments of my life. Wait, have I introduced myself? Oops! I am really sorry, I think in the flow, I missed talking about myself. My name is Joy, I am 12 years old and I am a resident of New Delhi.

My Dad leaves early for work and that day was one of those rare days when my Mom also had to leave early, which means I had to get ready for school on my own. She had already kept everything organized like my school uniform, my books, my breakfast, and almost everything that I needed. I just had to pick up the right thing from the right place. I just love my mom, she knows everything. My school bus comes at 7:55 am and for a change, I was ready by 7:45 am, which is quite unusual for me. Even when my Mom does everything for me like packing my school bag, helping me eat, and whatnot, I still have to literally run to catch my school bus. I was elated about the fact that I could manage to get ready on my own and that too well within the time. While I was about to leave the house, I felt the urge to use the washroom. I don’t know why, but it usually happens with me that when I am at the door I feel like going to the washroom.

I went to the washroom, relieved myself, and happily came out to pick up my bag. I was glad that for the first time in years I would be walking to my bus and not running. Right after I stepped out of the washroom, I could feel that something was not right. Though there was no perceptible change in the room, still I was not getting the right vibes. It felt as if there was a complete vacuum, I could even hear my breath. I wanted to run away, but it became difficult for me to manage my own weight that I had to literally drag my legs to walk and the door which was at just about a 2-feet distance from me appeared miles away. While I was busy pulling myself to reach the door, I heard a loud thud. The door in front of me got slammed shut. I was so shocked that I couldn’t bear it anymore and collapsed. 

I don’t know for how long I kept lying there but when I opened my eyes I found myself in my Dad’s room, the room that had all those obsolete gadgets. I couldn’t believe what I saw next, I saw those devices talking to each other and moving freely in the room. I saw the Walkman talking to wired earphones and our Yaschika camera speaking to Floppy-Disks. I felt nauseous at seeing such creepy and weird things. I tried to escape but found my hands were tied by the earphone wires. While I was trying to untie my hands, I felt a sudden whiff of burnt wires on my face. I saw our 3-CD changer was standing right in front of me. It told me to stay right where I was. They all had united against my Dad. The CD Changer told me that they all wanted to give a message to my father that they are not weak and can fight anyone. It told me that I will be under “House Arrest” until my father comes and apologizes to them. After it announced what they all wanted, our old landphone glided past me, circled around me for a while, and told me to call my father and tell him to apologize to them. I don’t know how but I got through the line and I was connected to my father through that “non-connected” landline of ours. I narrated the entire episode to my Dad but he didn’t believe me, he thought just because I don’t want to go to school I am making up stories. I tried my mom also, but surprisingly while dialing her I forgot her number, I think the panic was taking over me. 

I requested them to give me some time to think so that I can approach my parents. After a lot of back and forth negotiation they agreed. I tried to think of something to get out of that trap, but I was not getting any idea, I think my mind had frozen. When nothing came to my mind, I requested them to allow me to go to the washroom, as it was washroom only where everything had started. I went to the washroom and locked myself from inside. After a while they all started banging on the door however, I was determined that I am not going to open the door. I lied down and closed my eyes. The door kept banging and suddenly I felt one of them got successful in opening the door, I could feel the voice getting closer to me.

“Get up Joy”, “Get up Joy”

“Today, you have to get ready on your own”

Thank God! It was my Mom. I was so relieved to know that it was just a dream. I woke up and gave my mom a tight hug and went ahead to get ready in time.