The password journal

As a preteen, Audrey had a locking Girl Tech Password Journal. It was a plastic, journal-shaped box containing a notebook, and it was equipped with a very rudimentary voice-activated lock. Once a chosen password was set, the journal was supposed to open when and only when the owner recited the word.

For many reasons, the journal didn't work properly. Half the time, it wouldn't recognize Audrey's password (“playground”) even when she said it in a clear voice, identical to the intonation she used to set it. It would also open when Jared imitated her voice well enough. Other times, it would easily unlock when either of them made a noise that even slightly resembled playground.

As a toy, it was cool technology, but it wasn't like Audrey really used it. She seemed to spend much more time fighting with the device to open than she did actually writing in the notebook. Jared would often hear the toy's familiar vocal cadence cycling through the same stock phrases: “record your password,” “repeat your password,” and “repeat your password — LOUDER!”

When Audrey did manage to make use of the journal, all she wrote about was how “Jordan is cute,” an opinion that she wasn't exactly keeping secret to begin with.

Either way, Jared enjoyed the challenge of imitating Audrey well enough to fool the mechanism, even if there wasn't anything revelatory inside.

Eventually, the journal must've been given or thrown away. Audrey probably didn't notice or care.  ❐

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