I got asked to prom with a washing machine. On a snowy evening in February, while all my friends were getting flowers and sweets, I was sitting in my bedroom, ruminating over when or if my boyfriend would ask me. Little did I know what the blizzard would blow in.
When I was unexpectedly summoned upstairs by my mother, I assumed I was in trouble for something. What I didn’t expect was for her to point out the window at a white cube sitting on the snow-packed lawn, nearly camouflaged in the flurry—a lone washing machine, waiting like the ghost of Prom Night Yet To Come.
Hurriedly, I dressed in my dad’s oversized hat, coat, and boots and braved the biting cold to go investigate. Flapping in the winter wind was a note taped to the machine that simply said, “Can I ask you something?”
I turned to retreat to the house to get a flashlight to aid me as I scoured the abandoned appliance for more clues, but just as I did so, I was met by a half-circle of teenage boys in rather wrinkled suits. Each of them held a single rose and passed it to me like I was a contestant on The Bachelor until my boyfriend, Nick, stepped through the middle with a poster with the word PROM??? written on it in rather shaky penmanship, the last question mark squished at the edge of the poster signaling he had clearly overestimated the sizing.
“So?” Nick shouted to me over the howl of the wind. “Do you wanna go to prom with me?”
I stood there, the legs of my well-loved moose pajama pants shaking—whether it was from the horizontal snowstorm or the frigid grip of winter overtaking me, I had no idea. So it wasn’t the most romantic gesture, but one didn’t exactly say no to a promposal from their boyfriend unless they wanted to be the talk of the cafeteria.
“Um…sure?” I replied, hugging myself tightly as Nick’s friends tackled him in a series of congratulatory brotherly embraces. Once they finished, I asked through chattering teeth, “What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Oh, that’s for you! It’s broken, though, so I’m not sure what you could do with it…”
A short breath escaped my lips in a wisp of crystallized air. Unbelievable. It was like an ancient suitor asking for a maiden’s hand with a cow that didn’t produce milk. The only thing to do—with both cow and machine—was use it for parts.
Before I could say anything else, Nick had already started racing to his friend’s car. “See ya in class tomorrow, Ellie!”
I was used to him rushing off with his friends and leaving me in the dust, but being left in the snow was a new sensation in a familiar cycle. Placing my hand on the cold metal of the washing machine, we communed in silence, no one more discarded than the other.
Abbie Cochrane is an Utah-based actor of stage, screen, and voiceover known for her roles as Daria Bishop in “Dark Road Diaries,” Jez in “Witchpunk,” and Amelia in “Fox Teeth and Cosmic Blood.” She graduated from Southern Utah University in 2025 with a BFA in Musical Theater and a minor in Creative Writing. Her work can be found in publications such as the Kolob Canyon Review, Moss Puppy Magazine, and Yavanu Literary Journal. She has also assistant directed at the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival for their 2025 production of “Macbeth,” among other directorial escapades. When she’s not writing or performing stories, she’s experiencing them through playing DND, bringing characters to life through cosplay, or spoiling her sassy labradoodle named Lola. Follow along with her journey and side quests on Instagram @abbie__cadabi.
Featured image by Planet Care on Unsplash.
