​

Hey world. I’m Thomas, the bulb. I was named after the inventor of our species, the great Thomas Alva Edison. I am feeling quite dejected right now. I have fever. I keep shivering all the time. The housemates had called Dr. Electrician. He diagnosed me with the seasonal disease, Flickering. The housemates, especially Ishita, in whose room I reside, are tired of me now. They have started disliking me because of the Flickering disease. I am hurt. How could Ishita despair me so easily? I have always been there for her. I was with her during her board exams, guiding her while she crammed up all the notes till 3am. I was with her when she had seen Conjuring. I remember I was up all night with her, only so that she could feel safe and have a sound sleep. And now, this is how she shows her gratitude? When I first showed the symptoms of the Flickering disease, she did not even think twice before announcing it to everyone, that I had been infested by a ghost. She thought I was a sign of the presence of evil. And all this disliking, only because I shivered (flickered) because of my sickness? You won’t believe what she did today. She came back home with the one thing she knows I hate with all my filament. She brought Mr. Magic fairy lights home. She even stuck him on to the walls. And while I die slowly in my sickness, Mr.Magic grins at me from the walls. I am really broken right now. Getting replaced by something you know you are better than, and especially knowing that you love the person more than the new thing, is heart breaking. I guess everyone and everything in this universe, has to undergo a heartbreak once, at least. This was my “once”.

Thomas flickered for one more evening before finally dying out. 

-Shambhavi Sinha