For Boo.

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“I know, Bud,” I said as I crossed my legs underneath my body atop the soft, green carpet. I reached up and threw my cracked white iPhone onto the bedspread directly in front of my face before continuing. “I shouldn’t call him, should I?”

I looked up to study his furry, grey-white snout and golden brown eyes, all of which were resting comfortably on the edge of the bed mattress, right next to where I had just placed my phone. He gazed back at me after I had spoke, and then lifted his head a bit in response.

“I mean…” I began to go on, glancing down at my purple and black-striped socks momentarily. “That’s too much, isn’t it?”

I pursed my lips and looked back up at Bud, who was still contently staring at me.

“And nobody really does that anymore, anyway, do they?”

He looked me over once more, and then relaxed his head onto the comforter yet again.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I commented.

Suddenly, a loud, classic pop song began to play from the bedspread beside Bud.

‘I don’t want no scrub; a scrub is a guy who can’t…’

I straightened out my back and scrambled to snatch up my phone.

‘…get no love from me; hangin’ out the passenger…’

My eyes locked themselves onto the dim screen once I had captured it in my right hand.

A small icon of my dad’s face was the only thing I immediately saw.

‘…side of his best friend’s ride, tryin’ to…’

I gave way to a small sigh, swiped the green telephone button at the bottom of the screen to the right, and then threw the device up by my ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Amber!” a familiar, masculine voice responded from the other side of the speaker.

“Hey,” I, less enthusiastically, replied.

“What are you up to today?”

“Uh…” I paused for a second, gazing around at the paint-splattered and icicle-light covered walls of my room. “Nothing, as of right now.”

“Nothing at all?” he questioned, his voice in a trance of almost disbelief.

“No,” I mumbled back as I rocked backward and brought my knees up in front of my face. “Nothing at all.”

“Well… I’ve got something for you to do!”

“Oh, great,” I sarcastically voiced.

I looked up at Bud, now closing his eyes, as I listened to my dad’s next request.

“I just remembered; I forgot to start laundry this morning, so could you go and start it up for me? Also, I turned the power to the laundry room off last night while I was working on the wires to the lights, so you’ll have to switch the breaker back on before you do it. It would be really nice of you!”

I gave a small sigh.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“I’ll bring you home a KFC bowl after work if you do! And I’ll make sure they give you enough cheese this time, okay?” dad added on.

I smiled a little.

“Okay, thanks.”

“Alright, talk to you later; love you, bye!”

“Love you, bye,” I responded before bringing my cell phone down into my lap.

I watched the screen flash the words ‘call ended’ in a small font and then fade dimmer. I afterward gazed back up at Bud and puffed up my cheeks with air.

I took a moment, and then both leaned forward and pushed myself up to a stand. After that, I threw my phone back onto the bedspread, turned to the doorway, and shuffled into the hallway outside of my bedroom. I turned to the right, made my way past a few closed wooden doors similar to mine, and then approached the white carpeted stairs at the end of the corridor. Promptly, I proceeded to trot down them, until I reached the ground floor of the house. Once all of that was accomplished, I turned to the right once again and stepped through both the living room and kitchen areas.

Eventually, I found my way to the next hallway that led to the laundry room. Before heading into its direction, though, I stopped in front of the metal-covered breaker box beside the white door that exited to the garage.

I swiftly reached up and whipped the metal covering away on its hinges. I then looked over the number of small switches that lined up behind it, noticing that one in particular was facing the left, contrary to all of the ones facing the right. After that observance, I flipped the one oddball into line with the rest, and then replaced the cover over the box.

I stepped back and quickly turned towards the laundry room, which wasn’t too far away on my right. I made my way swiftly into it, shuffling past the piles of dirty clothes that lined the doorway. I walked over to the tall washing machine, which was directly in the path of a strong ray of sunlight coming from the unshaded window on the left, and pushed in on the small, round power button on it.

Usually, the laundry machine would make a little ‘ding’ or light the rest of the setting buttons up when it’s turned on, however, it didn’t do that this time. So, I pressed the power button once more… and then again… and then a few more times, after that.

But the machine wouldn’t turn on.

I gave a frustrated sigh, and then stepped back to the doorway. Before I re-entered the hallway, though, I attempted to flip on the room’s light switch, which ended up not working, either.

After that, I walked back to the breaker box, flipped the cover open once more, and moved the same switch to the left and back to the right again. I stepped back into the entryway of the laundry room and reached out to try the light lever yet again.

And, again, I was, of course, unsuccessful.

I flipped the switch a few more times, mostly out of frustration, and then took a deep breath.

“I give up,” I muttered, turning back to the hallway.

I then trekked all way back to my bedroom, upstairs, past the old family pictures that lined each hallway and the cheap, tiny flower vases that sat on the living room end tables and kitchen counters.

After I had reached my destination, I began to scuffle in the direction of my bed.

“I still want that KFC, though,” I proclaimed, looking directly at Bud, who was still peacefully sitting in the same spot as before. He looked up at me momentarily as I reached for my phone, which was sitting right next to him at the time.

After picking my cell phone up, I unlocked its front screen, selected my dialing icon, and began to search for my dad’s phone number in my contacts.

Before I could reach it, though, a loud click echoed throughout the room, all of my string lights flickered into darkness, and the fan rustling by the door abruptly stopped.

“Oh, great, now what did I do?” I commented, glancing back up to Bud.

Then, the lights flickered back into illumination.

I turned my attention back down to the phone in my hands as the fan in my room started back up to a rustle. I proceeded to scroll through my contacts for a short moment.

And then another click rang out, followed by the sight of the lights around me popping back into darkness, the silencing of my fan, and the screen of my iPhone glitching into a pitch black display.

Confused, I looked up.

Bud’s head shot up as well, and he began to whimper.

I refocused on my phone and tried to hit the power button on it.

But it wouldn’t respond.

“Um…” I began to mumble.

Then Bud began barking, uncontrollably.

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-iKari