I once dreamt of a town where every machine fell silent—phones, cars, even clocks. What unfolded there still lingers with me, a reminder of how deeply technology shapes our lives…… #ReadMore
The Town Where Machines Went Silent
It is not marked on any map. Travellers stumble upon it only when their devices die in unison—phones, watches, cars, even pacemakers. If you have ever lost all signals without reason, you may have brushed against its borders.
I once crossed into that town.
The First Hint
It was a buzzing highway, neon-lit and loud, when suddenly my GPS froze mid-turn. My phone went blank, my car engine sputtered to a stop. Ahead, under a sky that looked far too still, lay a small town.
At first, I thought it was abandoned. The streetlamps were cold, the billboards black. Yet in the silence, I heard whispers.
Then I saw the people.
The People Without Screens
They moved slowly, as if underwater. Their eyes glowed faintly in the dimness, reflecting memories instead of light. None of them carried phones, but I noticed faint square imprints on their palms, like scars where devices had once fused.
I asked one man, “What happened here?”
He smiled too widely, his teeth too many. “We are free,” he said.
Free—from what, I never asked. Something in his voice warned me not to.
The Machines That Slept
Everywhere I looked, machines were frozen mid-task: a typewriter with its keys sunk, a radio with its knob stuck halfway, a drone hanging motionless in a tree. It felt as if the entire town had exhaled electricity and refused to breathe it back in.
At night, the clock tower tolled—but without sound. Instead, the whole town shuddered, and for a moment I thought I heard all the machines whisper together: “We remember.”
The Truth I Saw
The old woman at the fountain found me again—was it the same fountain as before, or had I circled back? She leaned close, her breath colder than the air.
“When people give their lives to machines,” she whispered, “eventually, the machines demand them back.”
In that moment, I realised—this was not a sanctuary. This was a graveyard of progress, where technology had turned its users into shadows of themselves. They hadn’t escaped their devices. They had become them.
The Escape
Terrified, I ran. Behind me, the town dimmed into mist, as though it had swallowed itself whole. My phone buzzed back to life, the car roared forward, and I was back on the highway, shaking.
But the imprint of that place still lingers in my mind, like a virus.
The Warning
Maybe the town wasn’t real. Maybe it was. But if you ever find all your machines failing at once, remember: some towns do not want you to leave.
And some machines do not want you to forget.
Neerja Bhatnagar
Feel free to connect with me on social media to stay updated on more content like this!
Instagram | Facebook | YouTube |Twitter |Podcast |
I have written 3 solo books and 3 anthologies. You can buy my books on Amazon. If you are on Kindle Unlimited, you can read them for free. Pls, do check and share your reviews.