Page 7 By Rachel Loveday
I
am not just a mobile phone—I am Ellie Brandon‘s life. I am more than a wireless device that chats with her family, friends, and work colleagues. I am her schedule keeper full of editorial meetings, and her personal trainer. I record her daily running times, which are getting shorter each day she gets fit. Ellie‘s working week always starts the same. When I yell ―Wake Up!‖ at 6 a.m., she silences me and then lays me down on the bedside table where I sleep. That prepares me for the next day, but I still get to snooze before she wakes me. I rest in the armband where her now-broken IPod used to sit. On her morning run, I get dizzy as she moves her arms forward and backward to maintain her balance. The Lake Albert walking track, path, and people are the same—it‘s starting to bore me. She needs to run somewhere else. Once when Ellie was training, my face was slammed with a violent hit. She had run into an unfamiliar jogger wearing a red shirt.
When Ellie arrives at work, I stay in her black leather handbag for the day. Loneliness creeps over me as I lie in the dark bottom with her wallet, car keys and eyeglass case. I don't like waiting until the day is over to see into Ellie‘s world again. I‘m guessing that the bag is sitting on her desk because I can hear muffled conversations. Shortly after, I hear Jenny asking her to lunch, Peter reminding her to attend the new gym opening, and then the desk phone rings a few times. During her lunch hour, Ellie places me in a black leather holster, and then clips me onto her hip while she pays her bills and looks after the new gym opening. The comfy holster keeps the sun out of my eye. To be honest, I‘m always afraid of falling off her hip. I have a few times. Occasionally, I fall so hard that I split open. Ellie just puts me back together like nothing happened (but it hurts like hell). Apart from a few bumps and bruises, I keep pictorial memories of her festive parties and special loved ones. I send her emails and I keep her day running smoothly. I am her life. Rach Loveday is currently studying a double degree; Bachelor of Creative Arts (majoring in Creative Writing)-Bachelor of Journalism in Wollongong, Australia. This is her third article in Perspectives Magazine.
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Rituals