Denise's life before smartphones

Once upon a sunny Saturday, Caroline, an 18 year old, had been tasked with cleaning her neighbour's house. The neighbour in question was Denise, a 48 year old woman known around the block as a Karen due to her frequent calls to the police and her distinguishing style of visors, sunglasses, and a short, brown haircut. Caroline was doing her best to manage the work, all while casually texting her boyfriend, Mel, who was two years her senior. Suddenly, Denise noticed Caroline's phone in her hands and snatched it away. She chastised, "You kids today would never survive back in my day. Glued to your cellular devices and social medias..." Denise shook her head and, without a second thought, she stuffed Caroline's phone into her large brown purse and left the house for a shopping spree. Concerned, Caroline decided to get her phone back from Denise's room. She rummaged through Denise's purse and found her phone. Just as she was about to respond to a text from Mel, she accidentally slipped into a pair of Denise’s tan leather flip flops. Losing her balance, she involuntarily slung the purse over her shoulder. Nervously, she clip-clopped her way out of Denise's room and into the living room. Suddenly, she felt a chilling sensation creeping over her feet. Looking down, she gasped in surprise as she saw her feet had turned into Denise's – older, wrinkled, and crusty. Panicking, she texted Mel to come to her rescue. But soon, the transformation took a terrifying pace. Her height shortened, her jaunty clothes morphed into tan shorts and a flowery silk shirt—the signature style of Denise. A visor and sunglasses materialized on her head as her hair turned brown and cropped short. Her skin aged rapidly and her voice turned raspy like Denise's. Hysterically, she picked up her phone again and a text from Mel appeared. However, operating her phone started to feel alien as her memories began to fade and get replaced with Denise's. Caroline was becoming Denise and she lacked the understanding to operate a “silly cellular device.” Confused, her new persona, Denise exclaimed while looking at unidentified app notifications, "What is this? What is a Facebook? Where is this Snapchat? And the TikTok? Like the sound a clock makes? These kids today...they'd never survive in the world before smartphones!" Now fully immersed in Denise's character, she effortlessly slid her feet into Denise's flip flops and clip-clopped her way to the mirror. The woman staring back at her was a spitting image of Denise. Looking down at her outfit, she picked up the forgotten purse from the floor and draped it over her shoulder. She wondered for a moment where that young girl Caroline, who was supposed to be cleaning, had gone. Suddenly, a knock on the door jolted her out from her thoughts. She opened the door to Mel. But before he could utter a word, Denise yelled out "Um excuse me! Did you not see the posted sign? NO SOLICITORS! Now leave!" She slammed the door, clueless of the fact that she’d just yelled at the very person Caroline had texted for help. The irony of her bewilderment went unnoticed as Denise, once Caroline, returned to the mirror, once again lost in contemplation.