84 THE NEW MOTHER

CHAPTER 84 THE NEW MOTHER Brightbill was there when his mother smashed against the pavement. He watched as her body parts were loaded into an airship. He followed the ship all the way back to the robot factory and perched himself up on the roof, but he didn't know what to do next. Strutter stopped by to check on Brightbill. She encouraged him to fly home. But the goose wasn't ready to let go. His little heart still hoped his mother would come back from the dead somehow. He'd seen it happen before. As the hours passed, however, his hope was starting to fade. And then one of the roof windows automatically slid open. The goose heard gentle music coming from inside the building. He fluttered through the window and followed the music down a hallway to a wooden door. The door opened, and the goose stepped in. Brightbill waddled past tall bookshelves and leather furniture and into the middle of a large room. An old

woman was sitting in a chair and a robot was standing by a mirror. The goose didn't recognize either of them. And when the robot rushed toward him, Brightbill squawked, "Stay back!" and scrambled away. Around the room he went, squawking and flapping, until he settled onto a table in the corner, looking lost and afraid. The robot stayed where she was. "Brightbill, it is me, your mother." The goose just stared. "I know I look different on the outside," the robot went on, "but on the inside I am the same. I still speak the language of the animals, and I still

remember every detail of our life together. I remember sitting around the fire in our home on the island. I remember the first time you took flight. We were up on the grassy ridge, and you stretched out your wings and suddenly you were floating on the wind! But then you flopped back into the grass. You must have flopped into the grass a hundred times that day. And I remember visiting the robot gravesite together. We talked about life and death. It was a tough conversation, but a good one…" As the robot continued to speak, the goose began to relax. She certainly did act and sound like his mother. But Brightbill wasn't yet convinced. "If you're really my mother," he said, "tell me the name of our home." "The Nest." "Who's my best friend?" "Chitchat. She is a squirrel. She talks a lot." "How old was I when you adopted me?" "You were zero. Actually, you were less than zero. I mean, you were still in your egg, but I could hear you peeping." And with those bumbling words, Brightbill knew the truth. "Oh, Mama! It's really you!" The goose

fluttered across the room and into his mother's arms. The arms were new and unfamiliar, but they were also gentle and comforting. "I love you, Mama." "I love you, son." From the other side of the room came the sound of sniffles. Our friends turned and saw Dr. Molovo wiping tears from her eyes. "I have no idea what you two were saying," she said. "But that was wonderful."