I forgot my earphone in my pocket. Tumbling in the washing machine, swaying in the wind, neatly folded. Then anxiously retrieved as soon as its absence was realized. Of course it didn't work. Not anymore. But upon retrieving it I popped it into its case alongside the one that did. How odd, to know something is no longer alive enough to play a tune, but to continue on as if it were, all the same. I will carry them both I think. I will place both in my ears as I walk and talk, and they will stay with me. Until they die together.