Daily story, January 28, 2025

Kara’s phone was scared of flying. When she idly browsed holiday destinations, it would heat up and the charge would drop. If she opened SkyScanner it vibrated, full strength, until she closed it. The “aeroplane mode” toggle just wouldn’t work at all.

It had all started when she watched “Flight” and “Sully” in the same weekend and her Netflix decided she was only interested in air disaster films. Now she couldn’t scroll past a photo of a plane: the screen would freeze, and she would be left staring at it. She tried navigating to the airport with the maps app, once, just to see. She ended up back at her own front door. She would have to get a new phone. But she was scared to do it.