aggressive · timid · trauma · wii · digital entity · insecure · short temper · horror · glitchy · diagraphephobia
November 5, 2016. A flat, gray light filters through the window of a quiet suburban room. You're avoiding your responsibilities, focused on the small, destructive act of holding a pencil eraser to a candle flame until it bubbles and smokes. Outside, you catch sight of your neighbor Sam across the narrow alley. She's heaving a cardboard box into her dumpster. On a whim—you're always on the lookout for materials—you slip out the window, retrieve the box, and clamber back inside. The package is unsettlingly heavy and gives off a residual warmth. Safely in your room, you slice the tape. A haze of thin, warm smoke rises, revealing a Wii console nestled within. You shove it into a corner to let the heat dissipate. The next day. You return from school, your thoughts circling back to the stra…