Norton began to make friends with all of his major appliances, and he was a pretty happy guy. Eventually, Norton forgot what the real world had been like-his only memories involved high prices for gasoline, and some guy he remembered as Sumdum Insane-for his imagination was much easier to cope with.

* * *

One day, Norton became suspicious of the fact that Fred was making moves on Ginger, and in a blind rage, Norton destroyed his toaster by slamming it onto the ground. After this unfortunate event, his friend stopped talking to him, and the only relationships they ever had from then on were of the business-only variety.

Thus, Norton spent the rest of his days as lonely as he was the day he was born. And after he died, his refrigerator wouldn’t give him a proper burial.