18 THE ENTERTAINING ROBOT

CHAPTER 18 THE ENTERTAINING ROBOT The children wandered out behind the farm buildings, through a clearing, and over to an old oak tree. It was the same tree their father had climbed when he was a boy. Mr. Shareef's initials were carved into the bark, at the bottom of a long list of initials. For generations, all the Shareefs had carved their initials into that tree, going back to the ancestors who first built the farm. Someday, the children would add their initials to the list. Beneath the leafy branches was a scattering of acorns. Jad cleared a spot for himself, sat down, and pulled a small computer from his pocket while Jaya climbed above. The siblings spent the afternoon there, lazing around the tree, until the robot marched past carrying the big, heavy toolbox.

"Whatcha doing, Roz?" called Jad. The robot stopped. "The Drone has crash-landed again," she said. "I am going to fix it again." "Do you need any help?" "I do not need any help." "I'm bored," said Jaya, her legs dangling above her brother's head. "Can you do something fun, Roz?" The robot put down her toolbox and said, "What would you like me to do?" "I don't know," said Jaya, thinking hard. "Can you do a backflip?" "Yes, I can do a backflip." A grin spread across the girl's face. "Roz, I order

you to do a backflip!" At that, Roz crouched, and then she leaped into the air, flipped backward, and gently landed on her feet. A perfect backflip. Jad put his computer away. Jaya jumped down from her branch. The children were impressed. "What else can you do?" said Jad. "Can you juggle?" "Yes, I can juggle." "I order you to juggle, um, some of these acorns!" Roz walked up to the tree, picked three large acorns from the ground, and began juggling them in perfect rhythm. Jaya studied the robot's movements and then began tossing acorns into the air as well. The first one went a little too high, the next one went a little too far, and soon they all went tumbling back into the grass. "Do you know any jokes?" said Jad. "Why did the chicken cross the road?" "Never mind." Jad scratched his head. "Can you tell us a story?" "What kind of story would you like to hear?" "A robot story!" said Jad. "An animal story!" said Jaya.

"How about a robot and animal story?" said Roz. The children smiled at each other. Then they sat against the tree and looked up at their robotic storyteller. "Once upon a time, there was a robot who lived alone on an island," Roz began. "She spent her time wandering across mountains and forests and meadows. And then something terrible happened. Rocks fell and the robot tumbled off a cliff! She survived the fall, but sadly, the rocks killed two geese and smashed four of their eggs. The robot stood there, staring at the poor goose family, until she heard a tiny voice peeping from somewhere nearby. She followed the peeping voice and discovered a perfect goose egg, sunk in the dirt. The robot carefully picked up the egg and carried it away, and when the gosling hatched from his shell the first thing he saw was the robot looking back. 'Mama! Mama!' he peeped. The gosling thought the robot was his mother, and from that day on, she was. The robot adopted the gosling as her son, and together they made a funny little happy family. The end." The children sat there and thought about Roz's strange story. Then they looked up at her and said, "What happened next?"