The Fan That Only Worked After Midnight

Photo: Unsplash.

The desk fan stopped working during the hottest week of May.

It was an old cream-colored model with three speeds, though the difference between them had become mostly theoretical. I cleaned the grille, tightened the loose screw in the base, and tried every outlet in the apartment. Nothing happened.

At 12:17 that night, it started by itself.

The switch was still set to two. The blades turned slowly, reconsidered their position, and then produced a confident stream of air as if the afternoon had never happened. I decided not to question a successful recovery.

The next morning it was dead again. That night, shortly after midnight, it returned.

For four days the pattern continued. Visitors were shown an unresponsive appliance and became politely concerned about my electrical wiring. After dark, the fan performed perfectly. I began calling it the night shift.

The explanation arrived from downstairs. The building manager had scheduled repair work on an overloaded circuit, and the electrician had temporarily moved several apartments between phases. During the day, voltage on one line sagged whenever the laundry room machines ran. Late at night, the load disappeared.

The electrician fixed the connection. The fan worked at noon, which should have been good news, but its newly ordinary behavior felt disappointing.

It lasted another summer before making a sound like a spoon dropped into a blender. I replaced it with a quiet modern fan that has a remote control, a timer, and no mystery at all.

Sometimes, around midnight, I still expect the old one to start in the storage cupboard and report for duty.