Categories: Apple iPhone

Billy the iPhone

Once upon a time there lived two iPhones 4, Billy and Mikey. Usually, mobiles don’t have Christian names, do they, but these two have. They belonged to two best buddies and were, kind of, on friendly terms with each other. They were once young, fast and hot and swapped SMS, MMS and calls to and pro. But time began getting on them, unfortunately.

One day Billy found himself in a plastic bag with wraps and dust and lunch leftovers, with no charger and all. It was dark but Billy wasn’t scared for mobiles as you may know live partly in pockets are used to the dark. Billy grasped, he was being taken somewhere and the ride was a bumpy one. Having suffered some nasty scratches before, he was a bit apprehensive about his screen. But he also had an adventurous spirit in him, he got a lot of maps downloaded, see, and he wondered where his travel ends.

Then someone upturned the bag and Billy dropped on a heap of other garbage. Strange gloved hands grabbed him, fiddled and threw aside. He bumped against someone’s casing and muttered, ‘Sorry, pal!’. It turned out to be a Samsung phone. That guy looked tough, he had a nasty crack on his screen and Billy quailed. ‘Look where are you going!’ Samsung grumbled.

Billy felt, he could do with an SMS or two from Mikey. But he found, he couldn’t reach him. Where once a SIM-card had been there was a strange void feeling. He wondered, where his friend was, could it be somewhere nearby and looked around. Not far from him a large display perched on an old rusty fridge. It looked slim and glossy, if only a bit dusted and his stand was a bit askew.

“Hello there! Can you see an iPhone 4?”, Billy asked.

“Hello!”, the display said, “You’re fresh here, eh?”

“Guess so. Look, you sit so high, can you see an iPhone 4 nearby? His name is Mikey, its’ my friend.”

“I can see loads of mobiles here, but I can’t for the life of me know, who’s Mikey and who’s not. I’m Dell, by the way.”

“HI, Dell, I’m Billy, great to meet you.”

“‘Nice to meet you!’, my Bluetooth, trying to be polite, boy?”, Samsung sneered. “It’s a landfill, you, moron. Welcome to hell.”

“Landfill?”

“Yeah, the place where all the not-wanted-any-more gadgets go.”

“It must be some terrible mistake!”, Billy protested. “I’m iPhone 4, I’m top gadget and everyone wants me! I’m state of the art mobile!”

“Yeah,” Samsung said with a mean grin, “we’re all top gadgets here. Me, you, that posh Dell. There was a Nokia here.

She too told everyone she’s the hottest thing on the block. But the thing is, we’re still here and that’s the end of it. But I’m not going to give up that easy. I have some toxic essence in me. Next rain I’ll leak some into the ground. That’ll show them.”

Billy felt like crying. But as his battery was even lower than his spirits right now, he could only beep softly.

“It could be worse”, Dell said from above. “I’ve been told, they take us to Africa and China.”

“For vacations?”, Billy ventured hopefully.

“Vacations, my Bluetooth!”, Samsung sneered. “There’s the giant landfill there. I’ve been told, you can meet real old timers there. Like those TV size of a card box. I’ve heard there were such tubes once. Real tough guys! I bet, they’ll do a killer to the earth and those ungrateful people who threw us away.”

“Now, now, you shouldn’t scare the life out of the boy from the start!”, Dell said.

Samsung snapped back, but Billy ceased listening to them. He was lying on his back, looking at the sky and thinking. He would give away his screen to know where’s Mikey and what happened to him.

Mikey too was travelling. Snug and cozy, in a bubble wrap and a plastic package with an address labelled on it.

Earlier that day, his owner had put him in a box and added a charger.

“Now, boy,”, he said, “I’m going to find you a new family. What d’you say?”

Mikey realized then, he was going to have a journey. He too loved adventures and wondered where he’d arrive. I wish, Billy were here, he thought on his way. We’d talk and discuss all the places we wanted to see together.

They both lived in Wyoming and while there were a lot of beautiful places to see, they dreamed of seeing the ocean.

They downloaded ocean views and even the ocean surf ALAC file for relaxation.

Then he heard the plastic ripping, someone unwrapped him and took out.

“Hey, what a lovely iPhone! I like it.”

“Where did you get it?”

“From a guy online. He was selling his old phone. Said, he hated him to be wasted.”

Mikey was listening to unfamiliar voices and his Apple A4 processor skipped a bit. Wasted… what does it mean… I can’t be wasted, I’m good, I’m reliable, I can work for years and years. What a silly idea that someone could waste a good complicated piece of electronic!… He thought, he’d do his best to show what he really, really could. He might have saved some energy in his battery on his way here, for he was in a sleeping mode.

“Can it take pictures? Check!”

“Wait a bit… now…”

A hand raised Mikey very high and he saw something blue and vast and gasped. That vast water surface was summer sky blue and sparkling and breathtaking. Ocean, he thought, taking his first ocean picture. Ocean! I wish Billy were here.