She pulled her Christmas cardigan tightly around her and stared at an empty chair. "You know how they have the things?"
I was a little puzzled, but decided to play along because I thought that would be funnier. "Oh, yes. The things. Of course, I know all about how they have them."
"It's got a sign on it."
I thought this might lead to a clue. "What does the sign say?"
"It says, you know, about it being broken and all." She was now staring at the cubbord above my head.
"Is it broken?" I asked.
"Heck if I know! I don't like them fool things!" She gestured a bit toward the catalog computer behind her. "They never work for me."
I was well aware of Theresa's difficulty with computers. Just that morning I had watched her break the timeclock program again and I heard her curse like a sailor when it gave her an error message. "Those things are frightening." I said. "I think they're witchcraft."
"Huh?" She still wasn't looking at me, but she did look confused.
I spoke more loudly. "I think the damn things run on witchcraft! They're evil, computers are! They're the work of witches and devils!" The students studying near by gave me a hateful look.
"Brian, they run on electricity. They're electric."
I moved the conversation on. "What about the broken one. What did you want to tell me about it?"
She was staring at a pencil on my desk. "It's plugged in."
I moved the pencil around and grinned broadly when she pivoted to follow it's motion. "So?"
"It doesn't make any sense, Brian. It doesn't make any sense."
"I'm not following."
"Why would it be plugged in if it's broken? Answer me that! You can't! Why? Because it doesn't make any sense!" Her gaze fell right into my eyes as she whispered, "it just makes no sense at all."
She turned on her heels and left me there feeling a little creeped out.
Today when I was at school I saw the computer she was talking about. It's still broken, but more importantly it's still plugged in. Creepy.
Posted at 6:58 p.m.
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