Story Group in the Park: Smart Refrigerator
Ballard has begun calling out to the street, "Gaito Kamishibai! . “Gaito Kamishibai! Street-Corner Paper Play!" Across the street a guy carrying giant garbage bags yells, "Right on!" Ballard calls back, "During WWII, war propaganda! 1945-1952, U.S. occupation propaganda! Today, still cheap! Still street! Fight your loneliness! Fight the lockdown! Gaito Kamishibai!" Over time more people drift by, linger, fill the benches, sprawl on the grass, leave and return. Justice is back with her dog Vertigo in a plaid vest, carried limp from a handle like a suitcase. Tom drops a picture in the story box slot and opens the doors. A short muscular woman in a Fed Ex uniform takes an empty bench. She raises her hand. "I'm Meg. I got a story. This is called Smart Refrigerator. A couple’s refrigerator gets hot. At the appliance store the wife heads to a row of 'smart refrigerators.' As the salesman talks, she takes her husband’s hand and passed a small object, a rubber boy, metallic red. The salesman was saying, 'These smart refrigerators display messages, show their insides on your phone. The husband says, 'Why in the world would I want to do that?' He grips the tiny boy. The wife says, 'If there is a child who has gone inside to play or hide, and becomes trapped, this feature could find them and save its life.' The salesman is freaked. 'That could never, ever happen today! No home refrigerators on the market latch from the outside. But say for example you are in the store and can’t remember if you are out of milk. You could ‘call’ your refrigerator and see what’s inside. Here. Let me demonstrate.' He takes out his phone. A video screen appears with a gulp sound. He hands the phone to the couple. The husband looks at the white interior. 'What’s that?' On the top shelf is a little figure. The salesman says, 'Huh.' He opens the refrigerator, and inside is the red rubber boy. 'Some kid must have been playing around.' The wife nods with satisfaction. The husband opens his hand. It is empty and releases a puff of chilled air." The park goes silent, then fills with applause. Tom closes the doors. The Fed Ex woman Meg says, "…and smart stuff is always watching."Gregg Williard’s work can be found in Conjunctions, Sweet Lit, Collidescope, Ekphrastic Review, and elsewhere. "Smart Refrigerator" is part of an on-going cycle of stories about a pandemic group meeting in a park to tell stories from pictures, "kamishibai" style.