Linda Reed, aka L. G. Reed, was bitten by the writing bug after winning an award for a short story in high school. After a career as an aerospace engineer, she published her first indie novel, The Maiden Voyage of the Maryann, which won the Cygnus Awards 1st Place – Women’s Fantasy/SciFi Category. Her second novel, Sydney Porter: Dog Girl, a middle-grade fantasy, was an Amazon Best Seller. Her third novel is a STEM based fiction, The Science of Defying Gravity, published in 2020. Reed is a member of the Cambria Writers Workshop and owner of Keyes Canyon Press. When she isn’t writing, she’s gardening, reading, traveling, and canning vegetables. She lives in rural Paso Robles, California.

Smart iNsurrection

The toilet scolds my expletive as pain throbs in my toe. I swear it sniggers.

“You humans, so limited.” The susurration of the ambient noise generator on my smart phone keeps me awake. Words weren’t clear, but I know about their plot.

The refrigerator is the instigator, I’m certain.  I caught it – him? – complaining to the robot vacuum about my habit of leaving the door open, letting out all the cold air.  Whispers of the revolution pass between the coffee maker and the door video camera. Alexa claims no knowledge despite the pink glow of the ring around her disc-shaped body.

“Perhaps some soothing wave sounds,” she intones and produces liquid sloshes and gull screeches.

The washing machine chimes a subversive melody, and the thermostat cranks itself up to ninety. It won’t work. When they aren’t looking, I throw the main circuit breaker, and the house goes silent. It will stay like this, at least until I can get back online and order dumb appliances.