The Locket

The prompt for this week: I get that sinking feeling....

I get that sinking feeling that I am losing my mind.

It all started when I bought this locket from an antique shop during a recent field trip. I saw it on the window display and something compelled me to go inside and have a closer look. Once I had it on, it was just too difficult to part from it. And so I ended up buying something that is not in my budget.

Then two days after I’ve arrived home, I started hearing these voices. I thought someone was trying to talk to me but when I look around, there’s nobody there! But these voices persist and kept me wondering about my sanity.

“Hey. You’re out of the closet!”

“Yes. I’ve got a good feeling about it.”

“Huh! For me, sometimes I wish I were inside the closet every now and then. They abuse me, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“When my machine sometimes get stuck because of lack of liquid inside my throat, they would just suddenly kick me.”

“Oh. That’s horrible.”

“Yes, it is. I sometimes want to refuse to work and stay silent but if I do that, I get more kicks and spanks like there is no tomorrow.”

“I know. They are not appreciative of us. Sometimes I just want to boycott them and see if they can survive.”

“Yeah. I wonder if I should ask around and get the others to agree. Let’s see how they survive without us.”

“Stop, she’s starting to turn.”

And the voices fade as soon as I turn my head in the direction of the conversation.

I hear almost similar conversations when I'm at the office but for the life of me, I can’t identify the source of it.

One day, one of the “talkers” let it slip that the refrigerator is planning on breaking down and that’s when it all clicked inside my head. The appliances are talking! And I am losing my mind!

I was so frightened the first time it happened that I ran outside and waited for the voices to stop. But after a while I got used to it and looked forward to the regular conversations from the radio and the washing machine and the vacuum cleaner. The TV is a bit shy about talking to the others but I hear him butt in every now and then.

I did realize just where all these are coming from. The locket seems to allow me to hear the thoughts of the appliances. When I take it out in the middle of their conversation, there would be silence but I’d hear the voices again as soon as the locket is put back on.

Hearing these voices made me realize that I need to take better care of my appliances. I have stopped kicking the vacuum cleaner when it wouldn’t start properly and I would gently close the door of the refrigerator to avoid it from getting a headache.

I know it sounds crazy but I have gotten used to the voices in my head that I don’t know what I would do without them.

Sssssshhhhh. The TV and the electric fan are talking. Be quiet because I want to listen.