Tess and I lay on our stomachs in my room. We run our fingers through the soft carpet and talk for hours. I lay with my head in my hands and kick my legs back and forth in the air.
“Hey, do you want to listen to some music?”
I think of Tess going over to the bed and whipping a violin out from behind the curtain. Maybe a chelo, wouldn't that be funny! That instrument would be just as tall as her. One of my kings servants had the bright idea to bring one along when we fled from Rania. Yeah . . . he does not make the best decisions, but he does make a great suflet!
“Sure?”
I still have no idea how she would make music and watch her with undevided attention. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small metal thing. Ummm...
A minute later she puts something together with it. These Raniums are very mysterious. All of a sudden I hear a strange and catchy sound coming out of a small black box. It is like a whole orchestra and a choir of singers shrunken into the little cube. Tess jumps up and begins to dance to the beat. What the heck! What is this trickery?
“What is that?”
“Pop music”
“Pop music?! What's Pop music? And where is it coming from?”
I stand up and look out the window, expecting to see the musicians standing outside. All I see is Malver's house and the garden. I look at Tess confusedly. She reaches over and places her hand on my shoulder,
“There is soo much more you need to learn!”
She drags me over to the metal and black things. Umm, this is going to be good.
“Okay, this is called an EPod. It is a electronic that plays and stores music. Pop music is a style of music that is kinda a watered-down version of rock'n'roll with more rhythm and more harmony. As for this,”
She points at the strange black box,
“This is called a speaker. It makes the music louder so that people can hear it better.”
Wow!
“I just have one question. What is an electronic?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Anny! What are you doing up this late?”
I look over at Tess but my eyes lock back on the television screen. My thumbs twiddle on the video-game controller.
“Come on, we have to take you back to get cleaned up”
She grabs my hand and tugs my arm so hard that she almost dislocates it. She pushes me in front of the full length mirror. My jaw drops at how AWFUL I look. My hair stands up on end in a large birds nest. A smear of tomato sauce lines my jaw. I don't even know how it got there seeing how I had a chicken and mayo sandwich for dinner. I wear an old robe that Tess got for me from the second-hand shop.
I feel like a zombie, but instead of wanting brains, I want electronics. Curse you screens! Why did Tess have to show me these amazing things! I will never be able to go back to normal entertainment.
A couple showers and face scubbs later, I look a little less disgusting. I almost look back to normal, what have these electronics been doing to me? I need to stop myself from using these devises. I am really addicted to these!
She waits until I am in bed until she leaves me be. She turns off the lights and closes my door behind her. I hop off my bed and put the robe back on.
Back to the video-games!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sit in the closet with Tess's EPod and headphones. I probably shouldn't have stole- I mean borrowed- her EPod without asking. My eyes burn and itch from the continuous screen time for days.
I hear footsteps outside the door and a blinding light hits my face. It feels as if the sun just knocked on my door and kicked it’s way in. It burns! I scoot back into the farthest corner and cover my face with my hands.
“There you are!”
Tess’s voice trills from behind the wall of bright light.
“You need to get out of here! You need help, you are addicted to electronics!”
I grown from behind my hands,
“No... I’m not! Just five more minutes!“
“You said that three hours ago!”
I look now and see that my hands are covered in blisters. I didn't know that it was possible by just twiddling my thumbs in the air I could give myself blisters.
"Hey, is Malver stil going off to explore tomorrow?"
"Anny, just one question. What day do you think it is today?"
"Umm, saturday? thhhursday? . . . wwednessday?"
"Today is Monday! Malver left last Thursday!"
I look at her guiltily.
“I think I might have a problem,”
“Ya' think!”
YOU ARE READING
The Silver Fox
Teen FictionA young girl's life is changed when she is discovered to be a Benizione, a race of people born from normal parents. These people have special powers and are looked down upon by others, especially by King Tuin. Benys also have brightly colored hair...
