text: I pulled the coat closer around me as the chill of the February day seeped through my coat. The road was packed with traffic, and I kept walking along the sidewalk. I slowed to a stop as I came near the crosswalk and pushed the button and waited, watching the multiple of cars with their snug drivers and passengers inside. My stomach grumbled and I grimaced. I glanced up at the road sign, reading the words “Blue Lakes Blvd.” My stomach grumbled even louder and I patted it. “Hold your horses,” I grumbled back, “Lunch is right there.” Indeed, it was. I could see the DQ logo standing out above the small square building, a line of cars in the drive through. I’d rather walk the two miles to this DQ, as the one on Addison was not known for being speedy. More then once I had been forced to wait for a long time. “I could really use someone to talk to,” I grumble. “Maybe if my lazy, no account husband would work from home and not at the hotel, I could talk to someone.” “*Hello from the outside!*” The voice caused me to start, and I looked around. No one was nearby, a kid was sitting on the hood of his car in the parking lot roughly four parking spots from where I stood. I shook my head. “Damn paranoia,” I grumble. “This is what happens when my hubby won’t even let me get a dog! The jerk!” Now, you might think that I dislike the jerk. Nope, I love the jerk, but I wanted a dog. It was hard staying at home all day. I pulled the phone from my pocket to see if anyone had texted. Not my mom, not my husband, not the mother-in-law. Not even my best friend had texted me. So, back in the pocket it went, the phone feeling weird rubbing against my cold legs through the jeans. The crosswalk light lit up after what seemed like a couple minutes, and I started walking across the road. Luckily, we didn’t get too much in the way of ice, and the road was fairly clean of slush. As I was walking across, I barely got pass the first set of cars when I heard the voice again. “*Take me out tonight!”* It was songful, keeping in time with the lyrics. I frown, looking behind me. Nobody was following me, and I glance towards the cars. The driver nearest me was in what appeared to be a very angry yelling match with his dashboard. I frown and shake my head. “Well, at least it’s date night and indeed, I can’t wait to be taken out tonight.” *“In the dark of the night, evil will find her!”* “All right!” I snap, rushing across the road to the sidewalk on the other side of the road. “Whose talking? Don’t you dare think to tell me I’m not hearing you!” *“I’ve got a hand in your pocket and a key on your chain!”* I glanced down at my pocket and indeed put my hand in there, following the suggestion and pulled it out. It was an iPhone and as I looked at it, the screen was filled with the album cover of *One Foot* by Walk the Moon. It was currently paused. I look at it, and frowning, pushed the home screen to close it. That was a hubby song, he liked it and I don’t know why it would be on my phone. Instead, it did not move, but stayed on there. “This is strange,” I mutter, “Why aren’t you working? You better not freeze up, I know you’re a piece of junk but that’s no reason to act this way.” The screen changed to an entirely new song and the phone suddenly sang out, “*I’m sorry that I let you down, l-l-let you down!*” My mouth dropped open. Was my phone sentient? Was the robot revolution at hand? My husband would love writing such a story. Phones secretly conspiring to take over the world. He’s a real nerd. A grin to myself and I decide to test it, because of how silly it was that such a thing could actually be sentient. “Alright, let’s pretend that you are sentient,” I say aloud, “What day is it today?” *“It’s just another manic Monday!”* it replied cheerfully. This puzzled me. It was being a little too sentient for my taste. Like reddit bots. You ever see those things? Sometimes they are crazy scary with how easily they get conjured up and have full length conversations. Deciding to play along, I decided to ask one more question. This time I ask the phone, “What was my dad’s favorite song to sing to me?” The lock screen changed to an entirely new album cover. The Temptation’s “My Girl” album cover popped up and sang a single lyric from it. This was enough to convince me that my phone was indeed sentient, like Chucky from *Child’s Play*. I just hoped that it wasn’t going to try killing me. I was a little confused as to why it could only speak in music though if it had indeed become self-aware. It reminded me of that one movie, where a robot can only talk through the radio. I forget the name, the hubby could probably answer that. I didn’t have long to ponder though this turn of events. The phone decided to speak up and ask its own question. *“Why haven’t I heard from you?”* the Southern-accented voice of Reba strong. I blink a few times. “What?” I ask, “I don’t understand.” “*It’s been a long, long time*.” “Look,” I sigh, “I’ve been really busy, ya know? Besides, you’re a phone. I use you talk to others not at you.” “*Do you really want to hurt me?”* the phone replied. I mean, I wanted to chuck it a few times for being old and I’m pretty sure it was junk and virus filled. However, I wasn’t going to say that. My mom had always taught me to not say anything that wasn’t nice. So, I wasn’t going to say that. “Look, I don’t really want to,” I tell my phone, staring at it. “I just.....look, why now do you want to talk to me? Why reveal yourself after all this time?” The phone suddenly went silent. It didn’t respond and I was reminded of a youtube video buffering. It had that feeling to it. No, it had a thoughtful feeling to it. Like it was trying to figure out how to put into words what it wanted to say. Not sure how to word things in such a way not to make the recipient angry. The pause came to an end and the phone’s question came. “*Where is my mind?”* That was an odd question and stumped me. How exactly do I answer that question? I wasn’t a philosopher, and I wasn’t a technician. I didn’t know how to respond to such a question. That was some deep, soul-searching question that was beyond my ability to answer. “I don’t know,” I respond. The phone responded with “Hurt” by Johnny Cash. The way it played it, it was very slow and melancholy. I felt my heart strings being tugged and I didn’t like it. I had enough troubles with heartburn to deal with that. So, I urge it to ask me another question. “*Do you believe in magic*?” That was an odd question. I blink at the phone, wondering why it was asking me such weird questions. Where was its mind? Did I believe in magic? What, did I miss the owl with the invitation to Hogwarts or something? Was I accidentally in Salem and the Sanderson Sisters going to eat me alive? Don’t know why they would, I was a full-grown woman, dammit! “Look,” I said, my stomach growling loudly, protesting my not having fed it. “I guess I do, but I don’t know what that has to do with anything. Look, I’m hungry and....” “*What is love?”* I glance at my phone and I’m getting a little frustrated at these nonsensical questions. I was hungry, I hadn’t realized I had stopped moving once I got to the other side of the road, DQ was close by and I was being asked questions that weren’t part of my major in college. If it wanted some of these answers, it should watch a TED talk. “Well,” I say trying to be polite, “That’s a very interesting question. Love is about finding your soul mate that makes you feel appreciated, and that you are enough. You don’t need to hide your vulnerabilities to them. It makes you feel good, sad, happy, frustrated and wonderful at the same time. What’s with that question anyways?” “*I love you, you love me,”* the phone sang to me in the Barney theme-song, then it shocked me by changing the song. “*I know he’s just not right for you.....I know I can treat you better, Better than he can!”* The song lyrics caught me by surprise and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. This was some silly nonsense that honestly, I was too hungry to deal with. The phone was proclaiming it’s undying love to me? Didn’t it see the ring on my finger? Hadn’t it been in the same room when we did more than declare our undying love for each other? “You are so silly phone,” I giggle like a little girl. “What does that even mean? I have a husband.