The Voice in the Radiator

Alright, so, there's this guy, Jake, right? Total tech geek, loves fiddling with old gadgets and stuff. His apartment's like a museum of vintage tech. One day, he's at this flea market and spots this ancient, beat-up radiator. Looks like it's seen better days, but Jake, he's got a thing for quirky old stuff.

So, he lugs it home, and it's heavy as anything. Cleans it up, and it actually looks kinda cool, in an old-school, steampunk way. He hooks it up in his living room, more for looks than anything, because let's face it, his apartment is already toastier than a campfire in July.

First couple of nights, everything's normal. Then, weird stuff starts happening. Jake's chilling on his couch one evening, binging some show, when he hears this faint, staticky sound. At first, he thinks it's his phone, but nope, the sound's coming from the radiator.

He leans in, and there's this voice, crackly and distant, like an old radio broadcast. It's talking about stuff that's happening in the world, but not like any news Jake's heard before. The voice mentions events and names that don't make sense, like it's from another time or something.

Jake, being the curious cat he is, starts recording these sessions. He tries talking back, but it's a one-way street. The radiator's just spewing out these bizarre news stories every night.

Now, Jake's not superstitious, but even he's getting the heebie-jeebies. His friends think he's playing a prank when he shows them the recordings. But one night, the voice says something that makes Jake's blood run cold. It's a news report about a building fire in his city, with specifics – the street, the time, everything.

Jake's freaked out, right? But he decides to check it out. He goes to the location the voice mentioned, and sure enough, at the exact time, there's a fire. Sirens blaring, firefighters hustling, the whole nine yards.

Now he's thinking, "Is this thing predicting the future?" He becomes obsessed, listening every night, documenting everything. Most of it's mundane, but every so often, there's a prediction.

Word starts getting around about Jake's "magic" radiator. People are showing up at his place, wanting to hear it. He's feeling like a sideshow attraction. And honestly, he's not sure he likes knowing what's gonna happen. Takes the fun out of life, you know?

One night, the voice gives a date and a cryptic warning, something big and bad. Jake's torn. Does he warn people and risk looking like a nutjob if he's wrong? Or does he keep quiet and feel guilty if something happens?

The date rolls around, and Jake's a bundle of nerves. But nothing happens. The day's as normal as grilled cheese and tomato soup. Turns out, the radiator had stopped working that very morning. When he checks it, the thing's dead as a doornail.

No more voice, no more predictions. Life goes back to normal. Jake's a bit relieved, but also, weirdly, a bit disappointed. The mystery of the voice in the radiator remains unsolved. He keeps the busted thing as a conversation piece, a relic of his brush with the unknown.

And sometimes, late at night, he swears he can hear a faint crackling, like a voice trying to break through static, but he never can make out the words. The radiator keeps its secrets, and Jake, he's learned to live with a little mystery in his life.