The Sounds of the Jaw

The girl picked up the bionic jaw and looked at it with what seemed like a new interest. “I don’t know. I guess so. I can’t imagine anyone doing that to anyone else.”
“Is there anything else about it that you can remember?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay, then, let’s try some other things. What about the colors? The colors of the jaw?”
“The colors? They were just colors. Like my crayons. Except they were different. They were lighter. I don’t remember the colors.”
“Okay. What about the sounds?”
“The sounds?”
“The sounds of the jaw. When it was working.”
“Oh, the sounds. They were funny. Like the funny sounds my daddy makes when he’s playing his records.”
“When he plays his records?”

“Yeah. He has this thing called a turntable and he puts his records on it and when he puts them on it, the sounds come out of the speakers on the wall. And sometimes he plays the records backwards, too. That’s when the sounds are really funny. They sound like they want to speak to you but they can’t get the words out. That’s what the sounds of the jaw sounded like.”
“Did the jaw ever talk?”
“It never talked to me. It just made the funny sounds.”
“Did it ever make the funny sounds when you were playing with it?”
“Uh-uh. It only made the funny sounds when I wasn’t playing with it. When I was playing with it, it was quiet. So I didn’t know it was making the funny sounds.”
“What did you do with the jaw when you were playing with it?”
“I guess I put it in my mouth.”
“Where?”
“On my mouth. It made my mouth feel funny. Like it was going to fall off. Do you know what I mean?”
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
“I liked it. It made my mouth feel funny.”
“You liked it?”
“Uh-huh.”
“But you didn’t like it when it made the funny sounds?”
“I don’t know. I guess I did.”
“Do you know why?”
“No. I don’t know why.”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to know why. Did you ever play with any other toys like the jaw?”
“No. I only had that one.”
“Okay. Let’s try something else. Let’s try something that happened before you had the jaw.”
“What did I do before I had the jaw?”
“Just a normal thing. What did you do every day?”
“I don’t know. I guess I went to school.”
“Okay. So you went to school. What did you do at school?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
“What did you do after school?”

“I don’t know.”
“You don’t remember?”
“No. I don’t remember.”
“Okay. Did you ever have a doll that could do things?”
“I had a doll that could eat. I used to feed it. But it didn’t make any funny sounds. It just made a regular sound. I guess that’s why I liked the jaw. It made funny sounds. It made funny noises.
“You really liked the noises it made. You liked the funny sounds.”
“Uh-huh. They made me feel good.”

“Did you ever tell anybody about the funny sounds the jaw made?”
“No. I never told anybody about the jaw.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want to.”
“What would happen if you did tell?”
“I don’t know.”
“What would happen if you did tell?”
“I’d get a spanking.”
“Are you afraid of getting a spanking?”
“Yes.”
“So you didn’t tell anyone about the jaw.”
“No. I never told anyone.”
“Okay. Let’s try something else. Let’s go back in time. Before you had the jaw.”
“Before I had the jaw?”
“Yes. Before you had the jaw.”
“I had a cat. I named it Lulu.”
“Did you ever play with Lulu?”
“Sometimes. But I didn’t have any toys except the jaw.”
“What happened to Lulu?”

“I don’t know. I guess I killed her.”
“Why did you kill her?”
“She was making too much noise, I guess.”
“Ah. I see.”