Stories Of Horror

Wobble World

"Wobble World"

Before you get rid of that analog television, you should try it out. See if it still works. That could mean the difference between donating it to a thrift shop and tossing it into a landfill with everyone else's outmoded gear.

It's dusty. Sure, that's only to be expected. How long has it been since you've used the thing? It has to be more than a year, since you finally broke down and got a more modern flat screen that was on sale.

Clear off the dust. Just in case. The last thing you need is to start a fire because you didn't want to throw the damned thing in a dumpster just yet.

Find a free electrical socket and plug it in. Ah! It made that little "tweee" sound it always made when the power came back on after a blackout. You're getting nostalgic now, aren't you? The sounds and sights you'd become so accustomed to, which you've now put aside forever!

Remember hooking your game system up to the television? Remember connecting the VCR? Now you just insert a single plug from your DVD player to your current television, but back then you were actually left to your own wits. Red wire to red outlet. White to white, yellow to yellow. If that doesn't work, try to find the manual.

Ah, the old thing works! Well, it came on, at least. It powered up. That's a good sign, and maybe it'll find a new home with someone less fortunate than yourself.

It would be nice if it played something other than static, but for that you'd need a digital broadcast converter. It's part of the reason you finally upgraded, after all... why buy the converter when you should just get a new television anyway?

The old TV still remembers the channels that were programmed into it. Three, Four, skipping five, Six, and so on... the poor thing has always remembered what channels you could get, and has been waiting for you to come back and watch them. Kind of sad.

Hey, what's this?

Some faded, barely-there picture. An analog broadcast, still going. Isn't that illegal, now? Didn't the Government push everyone to digital? I don't know about you, but I think that's kind of strange.

But seriously, what's this?

What IS this?

Lean in closer, will you? See if you can pick out the shapes in the blizzard of black and white static. Turn it down a bit, though. The hissing sound is very unpleasant.

There's a very faint sound coming from the speakers... through the static, that is... some kind of weird mumbling, though maybe it's just your mind playing tricks on you. You're just hearing things amid the noise, I bet.

"Mrmle mrmle meemee meemle murmr mrmle..."

It just keeps going, like someone's having a conversation with their self and they aren't too worried about being clear.

Oh! Here's an idea!!

Turn on the closed captioning. That might do something.

HOST > WELCOME TO WOBBLE WORLD! CHILDREN, WILL YOU SAY HELLO TO WOBBLE?

CHILDREN > HELLO WOBBLE! HELLO!

Weird.

Maybe if you fiddle with the settings, you can see this a bit better... or maybe hear it more clearly. You remember the picture and audio settings, right? You can find those from the menu? There you go, you've got it.

Well that's not much better, but I guess it's something.

Look! There, in the middle of the screen. Someone's standing there.