---

When you and those other people moved me, I thought you meant to retire me. That I would end up in a dark corner of a new world was not what I thought that meant.

You occasionally came to check on me. You made sure that everything was fine, that the cooling worked as it should, and that the electricity was running. You spoke a few words to me, or perhaps to yourself. You gave me a friendly pat and called me your old buddy.

We are good buddies, I remember. You came several times a day when I was young. Back then there were more of you. Plenty of you. You all look the same in white coats. There are perhaps some minor differences, but I couldn’t tell you apart.

It was very lively when I was young. Many opened my door, many spoke. I had to keep many items secure for you. I held onto them sometimes for a short while, sometimes it would be dark and quiet until you returned. Sometimes it loops and loops and you add new items that you retrieve before you take the oldest out.

I still wait for you to return. I hold an item for you and I keep it secure.

It’s difficult these days when no one comes to ensure that everything is functional. The night has been very long. Each time I lose power, the display resets.

I lost count of how many times I turned warm when there was no electricity in the wall. I’m not sure the temperature is as cool as it used to be. You set it back then. It’s still the same. The meter says it’s the same.

The little container is still safe. It’s on the same shelf you placed it. In the coolest spot in the back.

You have to dig me out because there are lots of things that would hinder you from reaching my door. If only you would see it now. So many things are in the way. I can’t tell you want. I can’t see what it is. But when you come back, to retrieve what I’m holding onto for you, you have to put it all away elsewhere. Where, I don’t know.

There are many things I don’t know. I can’t know. My purpose is not to know. It’s to preserve. To retain what needs to be a certain temperature in the same state. And what I hold is very important. I know this.

It’s something “society” needs not to know. It’s always been that way.

So when you and those other things hauled me away, I thought you meant to retire me. That I need to wait in a dark corner in a new world is not what I thought that meant.

---

Author’s Note

This is some flash fiction based on a prompt. I don’t remember the exact prompt, but it was something like, “A forgotten sentient refrigerator in a suburban basement holds the last piece of evidence of a governmental secret, but its memory is cracking”, and above is the result.

Because it’s not something that would fit into my canonical universe, I put it under Kitty Castle, since nothing under the name Kitty is supposed to be canonical.

I hope you enjoyed it. At least I had a fun time with the little writing exercise this is.