31 THE CAMPFIRE

CHAPTER 31 THE CAMPFIRE Woodsmoke billowed up from the backyard and drifted across the farm. Roz was building a campfire for the Shareefs. In her old life, the robot made fire by cracking special stones together until she got a spark. In her new life, she used a lighter. The family sat around the rippling flames and gazed up at the stars. The dog stretched out on the warm ground. The robot was standing nearby but her thoughts were far away. Her computer brain was scrolling back through memories of campfires and of stargazing with Brightbill. Fluffy white marshmallows were skewered onto the ends of sticks and then roasted above the flames. The children laughed as their marshmallows caught fire. They liked them charred on the outside and gooey on the inside. Their father preferred his evenly browned. When the Shareefs weren't stuffing their mouths, they were chattering happily.

"That's the Space Station," said Jaya, pointing to a tiny dot that was slowly moving through the sky. "I can't believe people live there." "Animals live there too," said Jad. "The station has a farm. We should bring our cows up and show those space farmers how it's done!" "I think our cows are perfectly content right here on Earth," said Mr. Shareef. "And so am I." Once the marshmallows were gone, Jaya and Jad snuggled up with Oscar, stared into the flames, and asked their father about the old days. But the children were just too cozy to stay awake for long. So Mr. Shareef spoke to Roz instead. "We made campfires all the time when I was a boy." The man poked the coals with his marshmallow stick, and glowing embers floated into the air. "The whole family would sit around like this, telling stories. We had a nice life here. But then my brother and sister moved to the city, my parents got old, and everyone expected me to take over the farm. "I couldn't run this place by myself," he went on, "so I hired Jamilla. I did the farmwork and she managed the business. We made a good team. And then we fell in love.

"When Jamilla was pregnant with Jad we bought a few automachines to help out. Then Jaya showed up and we bought a few more. If I'd known one of those machines would be the death of her…" The farmer's voice trailed off. Roz wanted to know more about Jamilla, and about Mr. Shareef, and about the rest of his family. But a normal robot wouldn't ask personal questions. So she kept her questions to herself and dropped another log on the fire.