Group Blog Story

Here’s a fun little story written in a round robin group blog in my creative writing class. The first line was provided and then we all started a story which was then added to by all the members of our group and finished by the person who started it. This was mine. The first and last paragraph are mine. I thought it was a fun little exercise.

Techno Dance

It’s hard to know what a computer will do when you plug it in during a thunderstorm, but I never expected …

it to get up and walk away. Apparently the extra voltage was all it needed to attain a level of animation that had never been seen before in a computer to my knowledge.

I followed it out the door into the rain. The clack clack of the speakers turned feet was disconcerting to say the least. I needed to know where a computer might go. What business it might have. We made our way the Best Buy down, around the corner from my house.

As we neared the store, I heard the sound of music getting louder and louder. My computer sauntered through the door.

“Hey, Mac, you’re late!” a voice called from the back of the room. I peered in the window trying to see.

“Gimme a break, HP. You know the storm always hits your side of town first.”

“Whatever. DJ got the joint jumpin toNIGHT!” said HP.

I caught a glimpse of another computer boogieing his way toward my mac. What was this? Did they have dance parties every time there was a thunderstorm?

•  

  I watched as a line of animated computers marched through the door, from desktops to laptops. Every time the automatic doors opened the techno music came to me full blast. The computers entering single file didn’t even spare me an electronic glance from their monitors. “Dell finally made it!” I recognized my computer’s voice, which sounded oddly human. “Moving kind of slow, aren’t you? Need an upgrade?” The lights inside the store dimmed down as the last of the stragglers entered. The bass now vibrated through the concrete walls and a disco ball descended from the ceiling. I watched through the glass doors and debated on going in side. What would happen if I did? The troop of computers had ignored my presence outside but would they continue to do so if I invaded their party? I stood under the store’s overhang which provided me with limited protection from the heavy rain. The splash of the rain on the sidewalk soaked my jeans from the knee down. Inside would be dry and warm but should I risk it? Should I just walk home in the heavy downpour? Lightning struck in the open parking lot across the road, I could feel the electricity. “Whoa! That was a close one!” I heard someone shout inside the store.

• I had followed my computer this far, through the rain and lightning. Why give up now. I casually walked into Best Buy so as not to draw attention. Suddenly, all the monitors turned towards me. The music stopped and the lights flickered back to their regular white incandescence. All of the computers began to power down. “Goodbye,” the old HP’s said. All the other computers sang out their own individual sign-off tones in a brief orchestra of panic. All was silence and the party had ended as soon as it had begun. “Hello,” I said, hoping to catch another glimpse of the strange rave. Moonlight broke out as the storm rapidly receded. The party was officially over. I grabbed my computer and headed home. “I didn’t know you could do that. And if I knew you were a lady computer, I probably wouldn’t have visited some of the sights I frequent.”
• I heard a sudden beep as my mac turned on again. Curious, I opened it up to the black screen. “…..You mean it?” I blinked at the green text in the middle of the black background. Now this was cool. “Yeah…sorry.” My eyes lit up in excitement. This was awesome! It was like I was Neo in The Matrix or something. “….Alright. Name’s Trinity. I’ll hold you to that.” The text suddenly disappeared, the mac shutting down again and going silent. I grinned. No one would believe me if I told them what had just happened, but it didn’t matter. I had a talking computer that was alive in many more ways than I could possibly imagine. I closed my computer once more, hurrying down the street to my room. I had the best computer in the world; no wonder they call it ‘Best’ Buy.
• I was awakened in the night by the sound of coughing in the living room. I went to see who was there. It was my computer. Her screen was dim and flickering. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “I guess I caught a virus at the party. my synapsis are sluggish and power is failing. I fear I am going to crash,” she typed in reply. “No, you can’t crash. I only just discovered that you are YOU. I cannot believe this.” “It is happening soon. I received an email from HP that we already lost Dell. He was taken to the repair shop, but the techs don’t think there is anything they can do. I wish I had used surge protection last night during my connections.” I sat down at the table and put my hands on her keyboard, rubbing her space bar with my thumbs. My eyes filled and a tear ran down my cheek. I continued to caress her space bar and occasionally stroke her other keys. I sat there with her until her cursor blinked for the last time. My computer died that day. I took her to the Computer Repair Shop, but they only confirmed what Mac had said. There had been a whole rash of computer deaths from the storm the night before. No one but me could have explained why. But, that is a story that would never be believed.