Just A Little Glitch

There was a split second, in which the TV screen turned black. 

Amy sat on her crusty old couch and took part in smoking a paper cigarette as she watched her fourth episode that night. She couldn’t quite remember the name of the show, all she knew was that it brought her some form of comfort– at least as much comfort as an addiction can bring to one. 

The little glitch was accompanied by a shrill beep; a sound that would plummet into the distance and remain unheard once her show resumed. The swift error did not cause her distress, for she knew that it was nothing more than a little glitch and that her show would resume just as it always did. But the longer the straw-blond watched it, the more it shifted from a vibrant-colored show to a dark-hued screen and the greater that ear-numbing hum buzzed. 

Amy blinked away her fatigue and allowed the cigarette to burn out in between her fingers as the hum grew deafeningly loud and the screen blared a sable color into the small living room. She reached a frail hand over to the side table and picked up the remote. 

“There’s been another nationwide glitch,” called Beth from the other room, “It should only last a few more minutes like it always does.” 

But it didn’t only last a few more moments. In fact, her screen seemed to stay like that for hours and the humming began to occupy her entire subconscious. Eventually, she avoided fidgeting with the remote and adjusted her eyes to the perpetually black screen. Her head began pounding as she watched it to the point of suffocation, unable to look away. With her ears ringing and her eyes weary, she fell into a familiar drug-like state in front of the TV. 

Rebooting…

Shutting down…

Restarting…

***

Everything you see around you is just a figment of your mind, came a voice, are you awake or dreaming? What is wrong with you? Wake up!

Hands grabbed onto Amy and pulled her away from the lumpy couch. As she got further from the living room and closer to her bedroom, the humming became softer– like a broken melody. When she fell asleep a different screen played in front of her; one of many colors and sweet sounds, showing life and its beautiful yet tragic moments. 

In these dreams she was young again; a little girl out running through the fields. She found herself getting lost among the ever-green leaves, swimming in the cool ocean waters, and drinking in the wild air. She existed in moments, nothing more and nothing less. The sequences of her life flashed before her and she soon saw herself now– as a woman, working to death only to come home and devour the television screen with a maddening hunger, drunk on the idea that illusions could heal her brokenness. How could I have come to this? She was asking, Why is it I drink the poison technology pours for me and wonder why I feel so sick?

She had a flashback of something that never existed.

Life was just a dream. 

***

She awoke to the same humming sound she had desperately tried to escape, though this time it was closer and louder, as though there were little demons screaming into her ears. Her eardrums erupted from the pressure and blood trickled out of her canals as she got up dizzy and blinking. She reached to touch her ear with her skin as white as milk and her blood as red as cherries. 

The scratching sound rang painfully in her mind as she opened her door and sought to find the source of such agony. A crimson light oozed out into the hallway from the crack of Beth’s door and decorated the apartment’s shades of gray with a bloody red. Amy stumbled as she approached it, hissing and whimpering as the sound echoed through her entire being. She pushed open the door and bared her eyes to the blinding crimson light. 

Everything in Beth’s room was drowning under red waters. The brunette sat on her bed, which was an arrangement of dull-colored covers and alabaster pillows, basking in the flaming hue that marked her television screen. 

“Beth…what’s wrong with the TV?” Amy asked.

Beth didn’t blink, she only sat on the floor, staring at the television screen, and hummed with the beeping, “Just a little glitch.” 

***

Amy ran back to the living room TV and tried to fix it, but her mind grew hazy around the sound and the dark screen. In time, her heart and head were pounding as she struggled to remain conscious. She held the remote of the TV to her chest and slowly rocked herself back and forth, her fingers spasmed across the buttons; Off! She kept pressing. Off! Off! Off! But it only continued to blare a bright ebony haze and screech an ear-splitting sound. The remote weighed her hands down and she fell to the ground, panting until at last she threw the remote across the living room and watched as it crashed into the television screen. 

The TV blinked back on swiftly. 

“...sends his sincerest apologies for this l-lit-little-little glitch,” the man on the screen said, he was an older man with gray hair and a bland suit. The bottom of the screen read; POTUS APOLOGIZES FOR ANOTHER LITTLE GLITCH. The dull man continued speaking, distracting from the hum that was once there as Amy took her regular seat on the couch and turned the TV up. 

Footsteps padded down the hallway and into the room, “I’m so glad that little glitch is over, it felt like ages,” said Beth as she opened the fridge. She took out a soda, “Do you want to watch that new sci-fi movie that just came out?” Fuzz, fuzz, fuzz. 

The colors played in Amy’s eyes, “The one with that actor you really like?” she asked, still watching the news as it changed to an update about the abundance of shelter dogs. 

“Yeah,” said Beth. Her voice was closer now for she seemed to be watching the news from the kitchen. “How sad,” she said, as the bland news reporter spoke of how many dogs they would be putting down. “I think I’m going to get a dog,” 

Amy laughed and reached for the remote, which was next to her on the sofa. She stared at it a moment before shaking the thought from her mind. “Sure, I’ll watch it with you,” she said, “Grab me a soda.”