At Beyond the Box, we are constantly thinking of ideas to give something unique, refreshing as well as challenging to our community of writers. Two to Tango was one such endeavour to encourage the participants to work along with another writer as a team and bring about a creative synergy. 66 teams participated in this one-of-its-kind contest and the winners were chosen by an eclectic jury panel comprising of prolific authors Ramendra Kumar, Shilpa Suraj and Apeksha Rao. Below prompt was given to the writers and they were asked to narrate the same story from two different points of view.
Prompt – Write a fictional story in which a character’s life undergoes some kind of major change due to a lost mobile. Feel free to creatively interpret this concept in any genre of your choice.
The Special Mentions in the kids’ category were Shreyas Saboo and Aditya Goyal (Team 50). Enjoy their story!
Story Title: THE MEME KING
Point of View #1 – Phone’s POV
By Shreyas Saboo
I am a famous phone because I house the account of teenage meme prodigy Ryan Dispenser, popularly known as ‘Meme King’. With tens of thousands following Meme King, I am well-known in the phone community.
It was a Tuesday – just another normal day. In the morning, I found myself being poked yet again, as Ryan started to work on his latest meme. My morning routine was monotonous as Ryan took me five days a week to a building which was known as school, but to me it seemed more like Ryan’s meme workplace.
After school, I felt myself getting tossed in his pocket. It happened every day and I did not know why. The next destination would usually be home, but that day I visited a place that seemed foreign – the library. In a rather desolate place, I was taken out as Ryan snapped the camera button profusely clicking pictures of various pages. Then suddenly, just when a woman came, he got up hurriedly. But in the process of packing his books, he forgot me there! The disgrace! The woman then picked me up and gave me an evil smile that shuddered every processor in my build. She then powered me off.
That night, as I looked at the woman who stole me, trying to crack Ryan’s password with her pudgy fingers, I realised she was the woman on whom Ryan had made and uploaded a viral meme the previous week. This was my worst nightmare – getting stolen and losing importance as Ryan would surely restore his account on another phone!
Now my only hope for being rescued was Ryan speaking to his parents about this matter. His parents had installed a chip in me that tracked me using ‘Find My Device’. He was bullied by the bullies in school, so this tracking was required for untoward situations. But knowing Ryan and how shy he was, I doubted he would speak to them.
To my surprise, three hours later, I felt myself back in the friendly hands of Ryan. Also, after this incident, Ryan stopped poking me during school. My processor could finally get some hours of rest.
Point of View #2 – Ryan Dispenser
By Aditya Goyal
Ryan Dispenser was well known in the internet community. He owned the famous Facebook account ‘Meme King’ which had amassed thousands of followers. No one knew about him being behind this account except the librarian who had happened to find out by chance one day. So when Ryan posted a meme on her which garnered thousands of likes, the librarian wasn’t pleased. He needed to visit the library to complete his overdue assignment. Had he failed, he would have to bid adieu to his phone.
On the way was Luke’s Gang troubling other kids. They would never leave a chance to bully someone and Ryan was on top of their list. He re-routed towards the library.
He sneaked into the library. The librarian was oblivious as he tip-toed towards a deserted corner. He planned to take pictures of the information he wanted and study them later. Just as he was finishing, he looked up to see the librarian. She was arranging some books and was approaching him. Ryan packed his stuff hurriedly and dashed out of the library towards his house. He was in such a hurry that he left his mobile on the table.
Ryan was distressed when he realised his mistake. He snuck back but his phone was missing. Ryan tried to build up courage to talk about his missing phone with his parents. He worked up the nerve and narrated the incident to them. His father switched on his laptop, opened an app and explained, “Don’t worry son, we can easily track your phone. As you’re bullied, for safety, I installed a tracking chip in your phone.”
Ryan stared at his father but remained quiet. He was expecting a thunderous response, but his father’s support and comforting words eased his nerves and made him feel secure.
“The app’s name is ‘Find My Device’,” noted Ryan.
“Block 5. That’s where your phone is,” declared Mr. Dispenser triumphantly.
Ryan bolted to the location with his father. His father rapped on the door and the librarian opened it in astonishment.
“Give my son’s phone back or go to jail”, he demanded curtly.
An hour later, a victorious father, a bolder and open son, and a happy phone rejoiced at Pizza Hut. This incident had changed Ryan as he realised that opening up about his problems can be helpful. He made more friends, achieved better grades, got over his fear of bullies and found much more happiness than before from the world around him.