Oliver was walking to school and enjoying the lively autumn air. He skipped through leaf piles and kindly smiled at everyone he passed. He felt the feeling of joy escape him as he arrived at the school building labeled in large letters "Ashridge Middle School". It was an old school that has stood there for over 60 years. The rows of windows that were held in place by layers of clearly eroded bricks were decorated for Halloween and Thanksgiving. After just arriving in class, he was called to go to the office. Surprised and slightly worried, Ollie walked to the office expecting the worse. When he arrived at the surprisingly cozy office, he was told by the principal to sit in a chair across from his desk. After a few moments of awkward silence, the principal handed Oliver a small box. Inside of it was an old, beaten up, preowned Samsung tablet. He was told it was an award for 7 years of perfect attendance and contributing to making the school fully accredited.
Despite the cheapness and low effort put into the gift, Ollie still felt honored to receive it. He was told to keep it a secret from the other students because it could make them jealous. 'Would anyone really be jealous of this?' Ollie thought to himself while agreeing to keep it hidden. Once returning to class, he was bombarded with questions and annoying statements of "He's in trouble." and " What did he do this time?" Ollie tried to drown out the other students and anticipated the end of yet another Monday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time-lapse (8 hours)
Excited to discover what the tablet could do, Ollie raced home, only to be disappointed by the battery being at 2%. Eager to learn the abilities of the small metallic device, he searched the house for his old USB charger. After about an hour of looking under beds, in drawers, and in baskets, the charger was found in Ollie's old bookbag. Frustrated that it took him so long to find an item that was so close, he aggressively plugged the tablet into the power socket and waited for the charging battery symbol to appear on the screen.
...2 hours later
"It should be charged by now," Ollie said to himself as he walked to the spot he last left the tablet. Without unplugging it from the charger he held the power button and counted to 5. Instead of turning on to the home screen, the tablet started to display a light show of blue flashing lights that gave Ollie a headache yet he couldn't look away. Within the flashing of lights, Ollie could see some images of trees, birds, and clouds but as time went on the images became more violent.
In an attempt to release himself from the tablet's unexplainable grip, he threw the device across the room where it hit a wall. Seconds later Mrs. Moore almost kicked down the door saying loudly between breathes " Oliver... Are you... Ok?!" "Yeah, I'm fine," replied Ollie in a slightly annoyed tone of voice. Mrs. Moore just glared at him before leaving the room.
' The hell was that? ' Ollie thought to himself while staring at the broken remains of what once was a tablet.
YOU ARE READING
If you can't take the heat.
General FictionIt was a normal autumn day in the small town of Ashridge. Tree leaves were scattered on the ground, geese were flying in formation overhead, and pumpkins were on every lawn. It was perfect sweater weather for 13-year-old Oliver (Ollie) Alexander Moo...
