I woke up in a void, I couldn’t explain or describe it. The only thing I remember is that, I committed suicide under the pressure of cyber-bullying. I heard something but I was too dull to care about it. “Wake up.” The mysterious voice echoed in the void. This shouldn’t happen, there’re no walls in this void, so there shouldn’t be echo. I kept doubting and I needed to know what’s happening. “Wake up.” The mysterious voice said again. Not echo this time, but a black giant chained hand caught me.
I opened my eyes again. Not in the void, but an apartment decorated with a lot of warm-colored furniture. A little girl looked at me full of expectations. “No one has ever looked at me like this in my tragic life.” I thought. I didn’t even got any idea of what was going on right then. My POV was weird too, it seemed like I was lying on a table. I couldn’t even feel my body. The left side of my sight was just pitch black. Everything was so weird and unexplainable. I’d had enough of the crap happening to me! But suddenly, that little girl picked me up.
“Wait what?” I shouted in my heart. I could hear myself but she couldn’t. She was holding the side of me and a glowing apple logo appeared in the left side of my sight. It’s a famous iPhone brand. With the various clues, then I knew. I was not anything but an iPhone. The left side of my sight was my screen. The little girl, or my owner, was already clicking me, I felt nothing though. I thought it tickled. As my owner was installing and playing her favorite games, I started brainstorming about the question of, “Why am I a phone?” I could only think of one most likely but unbelievable possibility — Transmigration.
I was still thinking until I saw Instagram on her screen. How ironic! This was the very app that made me kill myself due to cyber-bullying. I’d started posting stuff about my daily life after I watched a show. I thought it could fulfill my life and make me famous. Turned out people treated my vlog as a comedy and left toxic comments. I thought it was just some haters. Well, not just some, but a lot of haters. I started to avoid socializing and became more of a homebody. I wanted to stop her from repeating my mistakes, but what could I do? I didn’t care anyway, it’s not my business.
“Avery! Breakfast is ready.” A mature woman’s voice sounded. It must be her mom. Avery picked me up and went to the dining table.
“Avery, do you like your Christmas present?” Her mom asked. I was more confident about the fact that I’d been transmigrated. I committed suicide on Christmas Eve night. It’s 8 o’clock in the morning now, December twenty-fifth. Well, the timeline matched. I wondered if my family prepared any presents or meals for me. Such a pity, I wouldn’t be able to spend Christmas with them this year. Someone switched on the television. It’s Avery’s Dad. The TV started playing the news, “A fourteen year old student, also a vlogger on Instagram, committed suicide by leaping from his own apartment on Christmas Eve. It is initially estimated that the suicide was caused by cyber-bullying.” I guessed I made the headlines and became famous. At least I reached my goal of being famous, but not fulfilling my life.
“That’s pitiful, he’s only 14 years old. He could have a shining life and a bright future. Rest in peace.” Avery’s dad said.
“If I’d had one more chance, I would still jump off. I have so much less to care about now.” I thought, “No one knows what I have gone through and they will never have the permission to judge.”
It’d been six months since I was transmigrated to an iPhone. Avery used me to listen to music and communicate with her new friends. Her favorite music was “Pov” by Ariana Grande. She also decorated me with different kinds of phone cases and wallpaper. I felt really warm just like we were best friends. I never felt this in the past. Avery was doing really well on her relationships with her schoolmates. I hoped I could be like her. She posted selfies and her travel photos, and a lot of people liked them. We spent almost ten hours a day facing each other. It felt like we had become part of each other’s life in just half a year. I no longer cared about my past life. Even though I was just a phone, I was trying to live my best life this time. But these few weeks, Avery was getting worse in her relationships. Rumors and gossip about her appeared as some people started making things up. Avery never treated people badly. I couldn’t understand why it would happen. I started to have a bad omen for this.
Three months passed again. Avery posted a selfie as usual. Instead of likes, those toxic comments popped up again. These people would never know how their words hurt a person. I couldn’t do anything and Avery saw these comments. As these comments overlay, Avery’s depression got more and more serious. I didn’t want anyone to repeat my mistake. Avery now locked the door every time she got back home and wouldn’t face anyone. She deleted her Instagram but people still got a way to attack her through the internet. The Internet is a double-edged sword. People spread information without taking the responsibility and so they didn’t even think about the results. These messages got more aggressive and toxic over time. Avery was not a mentally weak girl, but still she’s so affected by these negative stuff people left her. She cared too much about others’ opinions even though it’s literally nonsense.
It’s Christmas Eve, I hated this day. Avery was lying on the bed again and wouldn’t face anyone. I hoped she could tell others the problem, since I couldn’t help her. She received a message, “I hope you’ll die like the 14-year-old loser last year. You’re literally a waste of time.” Avery burst into tears. Avery picked me up and ran up to the rooftop of the building. I knew what’s going to happen. I was thinking of ways to stop her. “Please do not jump off. You will regret it.” Avery couldn’t hear it, she placed me on the floor and climbed up to the fence. Her parents started to notice Avery was missing and searched for her everywhere. To attract Avery and her parents’ attention, I started to play Avery’s favorite music “Pov” by Ariana Grande. Avery sitting at the fence of the rooftop noticed me and finally came back to the ground, she slowly walked to me and her parents arrived.
The lyrics sang, “I wanna love me, the way that you love me.” It just beautifully showed that her parents loved Avery and hoped she’d love herself like how they did. Her parents walked to her and hugged her really tight. They all cried.
After a couple of years, Avery got a new iPhone. Although I would be replaced, Avery would still keep me in her drawer. I was proud of myself. I lived a new life. I got past the wound. The void wasn’t anything.