DisneyNow

This post was originally written for a scholarship application under a different name.

The final crystals melted from his dead gaze, and the mouse looked over its maker. The room, which had been lit by harsh red lights, shifted to a dim blue glow while those on the other side of the walls watched closely. Soft ultraviolet lights rose, brightly illuminating the many glow-in-the-dark Buzz Lightyear figurines on the desk in the corner. The man’s spiritless eyes blinked for the first time in half a century. A muffled thudding could be heard beyond the insulated walls as celebration began. Another low pulse of equal force emerged from the man’s chest. Then, his ears detected an electric buzz as the table on which he lay rolled itself out from the tube.

“As you said, Walt, ‘If you can dream it, you can do it.’”

Before him towered a woman in a Mickey Mouse suit, though it was not her voice he heard. A speaker lodged deep in the throat of the costume’s smiling mouth brought forth Mickey’s cold voice. His eyes glowed white in the black light. Walt Disney shook, and meant to shout but found his breaths shallow and his voice weak.

“It’ll take a while to acclimate to the new lungs, but they’ll last centuries longer than the ones you mucked up. You’ll be back at it in no time, but let’s start with something easy. Just follow the teleprompter.”

The mechanical gurney wheeled Walt Disney in front of the shining-green plastic spacemen and sat him up slowly. A blinding light suddenly beat into his face. He squinted and in a low voice muttered, “DisneyNow is the app for watching your favorite Disney movies and shows…”