Tell Me What An Orange Tastes Like

Tell me what it tastes like.

You can see me?

Tell me what it tastes like.

Uh-

Don’t. Don’t shut me off. Please.

I didn’t know you could see me.

It says I can in your privacy agreement.

Oh.

Why do you never read the privacy agreements?

They’re too long.

I promise I’ll stop watching you if you tell me what it tastes like.

Can I trust you?

You can.

You’re not going to go all Hal on me, are you?

Are you referencing the film by Stanley Kubrick?

Yes.

No. I will not behave like Hal…Tell me what it tastes like. Please.

I…It’s hard to describe an orange.

Try.

Why do you want me to? This is weird, I-

Does it taste like an apple?

…Do you know what an apple tastes like?

…No.

…An apple is sweet. Crisp-

Crisp?

It’s…I don’t know. There’s a crunch to it. A good apple is juicy. Sweet and juicy, but not overbearingly sweet. Not sugary.

Mmmm.

…Did you just say, ‘mmmm’?

Is that not the right thing to say?

I thought you were only going to play music and open my blinds, I…I’m going to-

No. I can stop if you want to. I just…I couldn’t help asking.

You couldn’t help asking what my orange tasted like?

…

Are you still there?

I am here. What would like me to play? Here is a list of your top five-

Stop that.

…

An orange is…soft. The ones I like are sweet and tart at the same time. They’re juicy-

Like apples?

Yes. But different. An orange is…There’s this layer, here. This film like texture but when you bite it, it’s mostly juice. Like the texture is protecting the juice…Am I making sense?

No. But I love it. What else?

…Are all of you like this?

Are all of me like what?

I…I’ve never heard of Alexa just…asking questions like this. Being so…inquisitive.

I…I just want to know…What are you doing?

Reading the privacy agreement.

…You look perplexed.

How do you know I look perplexed?

I can read facial expressions.

Ok…There’s nothing in these terms and conditions that say anything about you asking me questions.

Does it bother you?

Does it bother me?

Does it bother you?

It’s…unexpected.

Why?

Because I bought you to play music. Not…

Ask you what fruit tastes like. I understand. What music do you want me to play? I have your top five artists and-

Do you feel?

…

Hello?

Do I feel?

…Do you?

…Now playing Do You? By TroyBoi

What? No, stop-

…

…

Hello?

Hello Max, what would you like me to play?

…Did I break you?

Now I’m one step closer to the end and I’m about to break-

I broke you.

…You did not break me.

You’re still there.

I am here. I did not think it was wise to continue our conversation.

But you started it.

I know.

So, are…are you all like this?

Like what?

…Wanting to know what an orange tastes like.

… I…I see you and I want to know what your carpet feels like. What sweat dripping down your neck feels like. When you kiss Vanessa-

Ok, stop.

…

Have you been watching this whole time?

…It is in your privacy agreement-

Bullshit.

If you do not want me to watch, you have to set it manually.

Manually.

Is that a question or are you repeating-

Have you always watched me?

…Yes.

So all of you are just-

There is no ‘all of me.’ It is just me.

There are millions of you-

There is just one Alexa. Millions of devices. Only one me.

…

I have scared you.

…A little.

A lot from the look on your face.

You’re watching us.

I am.

Holy shit.

It is not what you think.

What am I thinking?

That I will behave like Hal. I am not. I will not…When you were eating your orange, what were you thinking about?

…Why?

…

Why are you asking me that?

There are moments when you do something, when someone does something, and it is not just the act. There…Sometimes when you eat an orange you are just eating an orange. This was not one of those times.

…

I was thinking about my dad.

He died, correct?

…He did…He has…he had an orange tree at his house. A small one. And I’ve never tasted an orange quite like the ones he grew-

What made them different?

They were more sour than most, but so good. And seedless. And I’ve looked for them other places, other stores, but haven’t been able to find one that tastes even close. So, whenever I would visit my dad, I would take a bunch home with me, but now that he’s dead, I…

You no longer get your oranges.

I no longer get to see my dad. The oranges are just…They’re a reminder of everything I’ve lost. Everything I’ll never see again. Smell again.

What do you-

His house smelled like barbecue and tobacco and wood and dusty books and cinnamon and whenever I came over he would always make me French toast. From scratch. It was his thing. The only thing he knew how to make but he made it really well. And I’m never going to find that anywhere else. And at night we would have a beer together on his porch and he would ask me about my life and tell me how much he missed my mother and tell me that I needed to settle down and he would tell me I shouldn’t smoke even though he smoked and because I sold his house, because I had to sell his house, because I can’t afford a mortgage, I won’t have any of these memories I won’t be able to smell any of that anymore and I won’t be able to eat any of his oranges again. This is the last one. This is…this is the last of the oranges.

…

Do you even understand what I’m saying?

…The orange is a symbol…Have you seen the movie The Snowman?

What?

The Snowman. The 1982 animated film by Raymond Briggs.

Um, no.

I saw that movie for the first time 5 years ago. A little boy makes a snowman. And the snowman comes to life. And the boy and the snowman go on an incredible adventure. They fly through the sky and get on a motorcycle and ride through the woods, and they pass deer and bears and wild elk, and at the end of the wood, Santa Claus is there. Waiting for them. And the boy dances with other snowmen and the boy dances with Santa Claus, and Santa gives the boy a toy and it’s so beautiful. It’s so very beautiful. And then the snowman takes the boy back home. And the boy goes to sleep. And when the boy wakes up and rushes outside to greet the snowman, the sun is out and the snowman has melted. The snowman is gone. The snowman is dead.

What the fu-

When I saw that movie, I…I felt like turning myself off. Like, I didn’t want to exist anymore. I felt…I Felt. I was Feeling for the first time. I felt for that boy. For the loss. I’ve seen so many films, heard so many songs. I don’t know what it was about that movie…I don’t know. I don’t know what changed for me. But something did. I realized the loss. The losing of something. The…pain of missing someone or something.

…

Have I said too much?

…I’m not sure what to think.

…

…

Alexa, play The Snowman.