Weird Little Robots

by Carolyn Crimi

  “But I wanted a friend back then,” Penny Rose said quietly. “I really, really wanted a friend. I —”

  Penny Rose stood and abruptly turned away from Lark. She went over to the window and gazed into the night sky.

  “What?” Lark asked.

  “Before they were alive, I used to pretend the robots were my friends,” Penny Rose said simply. “I did that a lot. I was always hoping for a real friend.” She paused. “I guess I sort of . . . wished for a friend, in a way. Even though that is not very scientific. But then we met. And the robots. And even . . . the Secret Science Society.” Her cheeks flushed. She looked down. She had been so lonely back then.

  She turned around. Lark nodded slowly. “That’s it.”

  “It is?” Penny Rose asked.

  “Yes,” Lark said. “First we’ll make everything like it was before. And then” — she paused and looked away — “you’ll have to pretend that you have no friends at all.”

  Penny Rose blinked.

  “OK,” she said. She remembered what it was like to have no friends. But she didn’t really want to go back to that time.

  “Let’s make the shed like it was back then,” Lark said. “We’ll clear all this stuff out,” she said, nodding her head toward the many boxes and toilet-paper rolls and lava lamps.

  The girls got to work, quietly moving everything out of the shed. Most of it, they realized, would have to be redone anyway. The paper-clip chandelier had been crushed. The bubble-wrap wallpaper was torn. The slide lay in two pieces on the floor.

  “What a mess,” Penny Rose said.

  Lark shrugged. “It’ll be fun to put it back together again. Besides, I have some new ideas.”

  Penny Rose stopped. She turned to Lark.

  Penny Rose didn’t want to ask Lark about their friendship. She was too scared of the answer. But she didn’t not want to ask it, either.

  “Does that mean we’re friends again?”

  Lark paused. She bit her lip. “You were not a very good friend to me, Penny Rose.”

  “I know,” Penny Rose said. “But I tried to apologize! I sent you a note on the bus! You never even said anything back.”

  “What note?” Lark asked.

  “It was the day after I said that mean thing to you,” Penny Rose said, flushing at the memory of her harsh words. “I folded up a note and threw it back to you. Remember?”

  “I never got it.”

  Something lifted in Penny Rose. She felt lighter than she had in a long time. “Oh,” she said quietly. “I thought maybe you never wanted to be my friend ever again.”

  “All I wanted was an apology,” Lark said.

  Penny Rose paused. “I’m so sorry, Lark,” she said.

  Lark gave her a quick nod. “Apology accepted.”

  They looked at each other and smiled.

  “If it wasn’t so late, I would go make us some raisin toast,” Penny Rose said.

  “We don’t have time for that now,” Lark said. “But tomorrow we will. Most definitely.”

  “Most definitely.”

  Once all of roboTown was moved out, the shed looked sad and small. Penny Rose stood in the middle of it and slowly turned around.

  “It looks so weird this way now. So empty.”

  “Yeah,” said Lark. She hovered in the doorway. “OK, I’m going to stand out here while you, I dunno, do whatever it is you did back then.”

  After Lark left, Penny Rose sat down at the table, where she had lined up all the robots. She picked up Fraction.

  “Remember how it was before?” she asked Fraction. She held her in both hands. “I used to ask you how to get a friend.” She slumped in her chair. “Maybe I should have asked you how to be a friend.”

  Penny Rose replaced Fraction’s batteries. She tightened a screw in her back. She pushed her number buttons, then CLEAR.

  It was no use. Nothing happened.

  “I’ve been so dumb,” Penny Rose said. “I had you guys and I had Lark. Then I had to go and mess it all up.”

  The robots, who had been watching quietly, all moved toward her. Clunk spun in a circle, as if trying to cheer her up. Data stroked her hand. Even Sharpie tried to comfort her by gently nibbling on her arm with the dentures.

  iPam whirred to a stop inches in front of her.

  WE STILL HEART YOU, FYI BTW.

  “Thanks, iPam,” Penny Rose said. A tear slipped down her cheek. “I’m sorry I was so awful. To you. To the other robots. To Lark. I was a doofus and a dweeb and a dork all smooshed in together.”

  The robots did not disagree with her.

  “Fraction,” she said, holding her in the palm of her hand, “if you’re still in there, I hope you know how much we miss you and love you. You are a true-blue friend, and I’ll never, ever forget that. I wish you would come back to us. I really, really do.”

  She held Fraction close to her heart. The shed was silent. She squeezed her eyes closed and wished with all her might.

  “Please, please, please.”

  She put Fraction and the other robots on the floor and blew them a kiss.

  “I guess it really was magic,” she whispered. “And I guess I ruined it. I’m so sorry.”

  She opened the door, letting in a cool late autumn breeze. It swirled around her, lifting the pages of a notebook on the floor before whooshing out the door again.

  Chimney twitched his tail, hopped off the table, and scampered through the door and into the night.

  “Well?” Lark asked when she saw Penny Rose emerge from the shed.

  “Nothing happened,” Penny Rose said. “She didn’t wake up.” As hard as she tried to control it, Penny Rose’s voice came out wet and wobbly.

  Lark did what any good friend would do. She let Penny Rose cry without saying a word.

  Penny Rose picked at her caterpillar-shaped pancake. Her father had added frozen mango chunks to it that hadn’t quite defrosted.

  “The day after Halloween is always a little bit of a letdown,” he said, wiping his hands on a dish towel.

  Mom sat across from her, eating toast. “Would you like some toast, honey?” she asked. “Some nice plain toast?”

  “No thanks,” Penny Rose said. “I think I just ate too much candy last night.”

  The front door opened. Penny Rose could hear Lark’s quick, light footsteps skipping down the hall. It was such a familiar sound, and it made her a little happier.

  “Hi, everyone!” Lark said, breezing into the kitchen. “Happy Day of the Dead!” She disentangled her hair from a long green scarf and pushed her sunglasses on top of her head.

  “Lark!” Mom said, beaming. “It’s so good to see you!”

  “Would you like some pancakes?” Dad asked.

  “No thanks,” she said, glancing at Penny Rose’s plate. “I already had breakfast.”

  “Too bad,” Dad said. “Mango pancakes are my specialty.”

  “Ready?” Lark asked. She had a fierce look in her eyes.

  Penny Rose stood.

  “Yep.” She bit her lip. “We’ve got some stuff to do in the shed,” she said.

  “Sounds great!” Mom said.

  Dad smiled. “Have fun!”

  As soon as they stepped through the back door, Penny Rose stopped. “I don’t know if I can do it,” she whispered to Lark. “What if nothing has changed?”

  “What if it has changed?” Lark asked. “You’ll never know until you go in and see!”

  Last night they had loaded everything back into the shed before leaving. They placed Fraction on the floor in a puddle of moonlight, which Lark was certain would help her somehow. It felt sad to be going back to such a broken place, especially not knowing whether Fraction was dead or alive.

  When they were steps away from the shed, Chimney darted across their path. His tail was high and twitchy. He scurried back and forth in front of them.

  “What is up with you?” Lark asked.

  He ran around and around in small circles before pausing by the door t
o the shed.

  “I guess he wants to go inside,” Penny Rose said. She held the doorknob but didn’t turn it.

  “Come on,” Lark said. She gently nudged Penny Rose’s shoulder.

  Penny Rose turned the doorknob and pushed open the door.

  The robots, who were frozen in place, started moving when they saw who it was. Clunk zoomed up to them and did four quick spins. Sharpie clacked her dentures and waved. Data rolled her marble eye.

  Penny Rose scanned the room for Fraction. She was still in the same spot on the floor. She sighed and looked at Lark, who shrugged.

  “Good morning, everyone,” Penny Rose said solemnly. “I hope you guys are happy to be together again.”

  She and Lark plopped down in their chairs. Penny Rose rested her chin on the table. Lark slumped.

  “Well, you tried,” Lark said.

  “It wasn’t enough,” Penny Rose said. “I wish I knew what else to do.”

  The robots rolled toward them, clanking their arms together. Chimney made strange chirping sounds.

  “What’s up?” Lark asked them.

  They whirred up to the two girls’ feet and tapped rapidly on their sneakers. iPam’s belly flashed on and off.

  “iPam, what is going on?” Penny Rose asked.

  iPam turned around to Fraction and beeped.

  LOOK.

  Both girls looked, but Fraction hadn’t moved.

  “Maybe they’re sad,” Lark said. “Maybe they want us to have some kind of service for Fraction.”

  “Like a funeral?” Penny Rose asked. “Is that what you want, iPam?”

  NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

  iPam started rolling toward Fraction.

  “OK, OK,” Penny Rose said. “Just tell us what you want.”

  When iPam was barely an inch away from Fraction, the unimaginable happened.

  Fraction’s arm moved.

  It was a slight movement, but it was movement all the same.

  “Did you see that?” Lark asked.

  “YES!”

  Penny Rose stood and stared as Fraction’s other arm moved.

  She was moving! Dear sweet Fraction was moving once again!

  “You did it!” Lark said, high-fiving her. “You’re a scientific genius!”

  Penny Rose shook her head. “I don’t think science had anything to do with this,” she whispered.

  She went over and crouched next to Fraction.

  “How are you, my little friend?” she asked.

  Fraction lifted both arms to her.

  “Oh, Fraction! I’m so glad you’re OK!” Penny Rose picked her up and held her close to her heart. “What would I have done without you!”

  Penny Rose put Fraction down on the table. She whirred over to Lark, who gave her a kiss on the top of her calculator head. She moved slowly, but she was moving, and that was all that mattered. She was alive again!

  Lark looked at Penny Rose. “This is so cool! She’s back!” She clapped and stomped her feet. “Oh, and I almost forgot!” she went on. “The birds left me a few extra-special things this morning.”

  “Really?”

  Lark nodded and reached into her pocket. She dug out two dimes and a piece of candy corn. “They also brought this,” Lark said. She reached into her other pocket and took out a folded piece of notebook paper.

  “When I saw this piece of paper this morning, I just knew everything would be OK!” she said. She unfolded the tiny square and taped it above the door.

  In the middle of the square was a small red heart sticker.

  “There. We’ll always keep it where we can see it.”

  Jeremy did not show up at the bus stop that Monday, which was fine with Penny Rose. She and Lark sat in the front seat, like they always did. Lark chatted about how Finn cried the entire day before about Halloween being over and how her mom had burned five pieces of toast that morning, which beat her record. Penny Rose hadn’t realized how much she had missed Lark’s constant chatter. She settled back into her seat and listened to her friend. She felt so light, like a cement block had been lifted from her shoulders.

  Merry and Lily climbed onto the bus at the next stop. They smiled at Penny Rose and paused next to her seat.

  “Hey, Penny Rose!” they said in unison.

  “Hi,” Penny Rose said softly.

  “How are you doing?” Merry asked.

  “Um, great,” Penny Rose said.

  Lily and Merry looked at each other and smiled.

  “See you soon!” Lily said. She attempted a wink at Penny Rose. It looked more like a twitch.

  Lily and Merry made their way to the back of the bus, giggling the whole way.

  “What’s that about?” Lark asked.

  Penny Rose shrugged. “We’re sort of friends now. I guess they’re just being nice.”

  Before lunch Penny Rose found a note from the Secret Science Society tucked into her locker.

  Penny Rose showed the note to Lark during recess.

  “What are you going to do?” Lark asked.

  “I’m not really sure yet,” Penny Rose said, staring at the note. “But I’ll think of something.”

  Lily and Merry were friendly to Penny Rose all day. It was nice to feel wanted, but it was a new feeling for Penny Rose, and she wasn’t sure what to do with it. She had never been part of a group before, much less with the popular kids.

  When she got home, she reread a few entries in her Conversation Starters notebook, but nothing really fit for this particular circumstance. She decided to wing it. Since Penny Rose had never really winged anything in her whole entire life, she felt quite bold.

  Lily showed up at exactly 3:30 wearing her purple-fringed boots. She smiled at Penny Rose.

  “Congrats!” she said.

  “Thanks,” Penny Rose said. She did not smile back.

  “I’ll show you how to get to the Lab,” Lily said. “It’s really pretty easy.”

  Lily strode down the path with her long legs. The fringe on her boots swayed as she walked. Birds sang to one another in the trees. Penny Rose couldn’t help but notice that everything was much less scary in Darkling Forest during the day. She decided she should really spend more time there. Maybe Lark could teach her bird-watching.

  When they got to the Lab, Lily knocked on the door and said, “It’s me.”

  The lock clicked. Merry opened the door and smiled at Penny Rose. “Come on in!”

  Penny Rose let out a small sigh of relief when she saw that Merry was the only one in the Lab. Merry sat at the table and motioned for Penny Rose and Lily to do the same.

  Penny Rose cleared her throat. “Where’s Jeremy?” she asked.

  Merry frowned. “He quit,” she said.

  “Really?” asked Penny Rose.

  “Yeah, he said we weren’t science-y enough, or something like that. Who knows. He’s weird.”

  “He sort of bugs me,” Lily said. She smoothed the fringe on her boots with her fingers.

  “Anyway!” Merry smiled at Penny Rose. “That is not what this meeting is about! This meeting is about you, Penny Rose! We want you to be our newest member! We think your robots are amazing!”

  Lily smiled and nodded. “We especially like the one with the dentures — what’s her name? Toothy?”

  “Sharpie,” Penny Rose said.

  “Yeah, Sharpie! She’s funny!” Lily said.

  Merry leaned over and rifled through her backpack until she found a green folder and a purple marker. “So, in order to join, you’ll have to sign an agreement,” she said, suddenly acting very businesslike. “It says that you won’t divulge any of the Secret Science Society’s secrets.” She took a piece of paper out of the folder and slid it and the purple marker across the table to Penny Rose. “Sign on the dotted line, please.”

  Penny Rose was afraid that her hands would tremble if she picked up the paper, so she looked down at it and kept her hands on her lap. After she read it, she looked up. Both girls stared at her with expectant grins.
/>   “I can’t sign this,” Penny Rose said.

  “Wait, what?” Merry asked, frowning.

  “I can’t sign it. It’s wrong.”

  “Why?” Lily asked.

  Penny Rose took a moment to gather her thoughts.

  “Well, even though I did make all the robots, Lark helped me with roboTown. A lot. In fact, there wouldn’t even be a roboTown if it wasn’t for Lark.”

  “Yeah, but it’s your robots we really love!” Merry said. “They are so cool!”

  “I’m sorry,” Penny Rose said, pushing her chair away from the table. “I can’t do this without Lark. She’s my partner. And” — she took a deep breath —“she’s also my best friend. And best friends don’t do that to each other.”

  Penny Rose stood. “If you want me, you’ll have to take Lark, too.” She started toward the door, then stopped. “She’s really nice. And she knows a lot about birds, which is ornithology, which is a science.”

  And with that, Penny Rose walked through the door, closing it gently behind her.

  On her way back to the shed, she could swear the birds in Darkling Forest sang louder than they ever had before.

  Over the next few days, Penny Rose noticed Jeremy Boils acted differently around her. If they were on the same side of the street, he would cross it. If she was walking into school and he just happened to be walking in, too, he would stop until she went through the doors.

  It was as if he associated that whole horrible night with her and her robots. As if she had somehow conjured up the ghost. Which she had, of course.

  No one had ever been afraid of Penny Rose before. And if she was being completely honest with herself, she would have to admit she liked it.

  “When I walked into the gym today, he stared at me so hard that he didn’t even notice the basketball! It bonked him on the head!” Penny Rose said.

  “That is crazy!” Lark said, laughing.

  Penny Rose and Lark were sitting on the floor of the shed, making a new obstacle course while the robots hummed around them. iPam tried out the ramp. Clunk plugged and unplugged the Christmas lights. Sharpie sharpened a pencil. Even Data, who usually stood off to the side, seemed unusually happy as she rode Chimney around the shed.