A World Uninhibited

Parker turned around. The robot was staring at him. A couple of moments earlier he had noticed the thing positioned in the far corner of the room. The other party guests had not noticed it, but he had. Especially since the thing had been looking at him and had just started to inch towards him... Suddenly Parker was struck with fear and a burst of adrenaline. He threw down his punch glass and ran out the back door.

It was dark outside, and the wind was fierce. In the distance, Parker could see a funnel coming in his direction, moving faster every second. Why had the alarms not gone off? Was the whole town oblivious of the potentially devastating catastrophe whirling towards them at potentially 200 miles per hour?

Parker kept running. Kaboom! Lightning. Parker hated lightning. His sisters enjoyed watching the spectacle from the windows in their tiny house, but not Parker. He would hide under his blankets and listen to music in an attempt to drown out the horrible noise every time it stormed...

Kaboom! Over the loud noise of the wind and lightning, Parker could hear footsteps following him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw his worst nightmare. The robot. It was following him. Its electronic eyes had somehow become very realistic resembling those of a human, but instead of normal colored irises, the robots were red.

Parker kept running. He turned up a nearby street, his street. If he could just get to his house everything would be ok. He could lock the door and the robot would be gone. He could take his family down to the shelter in the basement, and they would be safe from the tornado. Parker ran fast and with more fervor than he had before. He would make it. 

Just then, he saw his neighbor Mrs. Danduer casually walking her dog, puddles. “What are you doing? Parker screamed. “Can you not see the tornado that is almost upon us?” Mrs. Danduer just waved and then leaned over to pet her poodle. 

Parker didn’t stop. Home, he had to get home. The robot was closer now he could hear it. Parker closed his eyes. He was almost home.  After running for what felt like hours Parker spotted his house. Through the large front window, Parker could see his family inside singing Christmas Carols by a beautifully illuminated Christmas tree. “Tis the season..” Get downstairs! Parker called to them with his mind. Was he the only one aware of the disaster edging closer each second? Why was no one else alarmed?

Only a few yards left. Parker kept running, but suddenly he was stuck. He couldn’t move. He wanted to scream for help, but no sound left his mouth. He glanced to his left. The tornado would be upon him in seconds. Then he felt something grab him he looked up into the face of a demented, ravenous, red-eyed robot. Its face was close to his, and its eyes were burning with evil and rage. Parker felt something he had never felt before, a deep fear which penetrated his entire being. The robot, expanding by the second, opened its sharp metal jaws. Crash!

Parker sat up in bed. A cold sweat trickled down his body. He was shaking. Crash! The sound came again. Parker looked out his window and saw lightning. Crash! The stroke of energy lit up his entire room. Parker glanced at his grandfather’s lifeless creation in the corner of his room. The robot. It was only a dream. He told himself. Only a dream. Parker pushed back the covers and hugged his knees to his chest. He wanted to run to his parent’s room and hide, but he knew a ten-year-old was too old for that kind of nonsense. Parker closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe slowly. He opened his eyes again. The robot was still lifeless. Nothing to be afraid of. With this in mind, Parker laid down and closed his eyes. It was only a dream. Then he fell into a restless sleep.

Sun peered into the window as Parker opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the robot. It was only a dream. He said to himself again as he slid out of bed and put on his slippers. Groggily, he made his way to the bathroom. He turned on the water and put his finger in the stream of fluid to test the temperature. Yikes, it was cold. While he waited for the water to warm up, Parker grabbed the soap from the shower and rubbed it on his face. Once the water had warmed to a pleasant temperature, Parker rinsed his face. Then he turned off the water and dried himself off. 

After washing his face each morning, Parker got dressed and had breakfast. On this particular Saturday morning, Parker could smell his Mom cooking pancakes. He made his way downstairs after putting on his clothes. 

“How was your sleep honey?” His mom asked Parker while flipping a golden brown pancake.

“Fine.” Parker lied as he helped himself to three of the delicious smelling cakes.

“Stop that!” Both Parker and his mother looked up as Molly, and Eliza, Parker’s sisters, entered the room. They were fighting over a hairbrush. Parker sighed and continued eating. 

After breakfast, Parker made his way back to his room, and stared at the robot, recalling how he acquired it. Parker’s Pappy(grandfather), Jeb, had been an inventor. He made electronic devices that he thought could better the community. A few months before he died, Jeb had discovered the key to building successful robots. Parker, thrilled with the discovery, had helped his grandfather assemble the robot which stood before him. Unfortunately, Jeb had died suddenly before ever letting the world know of his discovery. The only person who knew was Parker.

In his will, Jeb had left the robot to Parker. “What a nice toy.” His mother had said, but Parker knew it was so much more. 

Sitting here, Parker was consumed with a question that had burned in his mind since the day the robot had come into his possession.  Where had his grandfather left the key?

With a sigh, Parker picked up his backpack and headed over to his Pappy’s workshop.

As soon as he arrived, Parker felt that something wasn’t right. He opened the door and stepped inside. Everything seemed perfectly normal...

“Hey.” Parker jumped. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that.” Parker’s friend Jacquelynn giggled. 

“Don’t do that again.” Parker frowned as he surveyed his friend.  After looking at her for several seconds he turned back to the workshop. 

“What are you working on today?” Jacquelynn inquired. 

Parker ignored her and made his way over to his Pappy’s collection of metal stampers. She followed him. Hearing her footsteps suddenly brought his nightmare back to life, Parker was seized by fear. He didn’t want to be there anymore. 

“I-I was just about to leave for the park,” Parker replied. “But first I have to grab my rollerskates. Want to come?”

“That sounds like fun! I will get my skates too. See ya there!”Jacquelynn dashed off. Parker locked the door to the workshop and headed back home. 

When he reached his house Parker slipped inside. He tiptoed up the stairs and made his way to his room. He knew if he were loud, his mom would conveniently have chores for him to do. Opening the bottom drawer of his dresser, Parker found his blue rollerskates with neon orange stripes. He lifted them out and turned around to face an empty corner. The robot was gone!

Parker turned pale just as his mom walked into the room.

“Are you alright?” She said reaching over to feel his forehead. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I-I-I’m fine,” Parker replied taking a step back from his mother.

“Alright.” She skeptically looked him over. “Anyway, I need you to take out the trash.” She said handing him a large, plastic, white bag.

“Sure thing mom,” Parker replied as he grabbed the bag and dashed out of the room. 

After throwing the trash into its respective bin, Parker strapped on his skates and sped off towards the park. Halfway there, Parker abruptly turned around. He thought he saw a flash of silver. Was he imagining it, or were their footsteps following him?  

Picking up his pace, Parker skated to the park. When he arrived Jacquelynn and some of his other friends were gathered in a group by the flag pole. He skated over to them and pulled Jacquelynn aside.

“Is there a robot following me?” She looked at him like he was crazy.

“No.” He breathed a sigh of relief. He was just imagining things. Just his imagination. Something deep down in his gut told him otherwise. Jacquelynn shook her head and then turned back to the group. 

Parker hung out with his friends for a good portion of the day. Every once in a while he heard footsteps following him, and he thought he spotted metal gleaming in the sun. His friends kept telling him there was nothing there. After 2 pm, Parker headed home. The whole way back to his house, Parker heard footsteps, but he did not look back. When he reached his house, he stopped in front of the door, but the footsteps continued. Then something ran past him. The robot! He knew it all along! Where was it going?

Despite Parker’s newly acquired fear of his now living robot, he followed the thing. Faster and faster the robot sped. Faster and faster Parker sprinted. Where was the robot going? After following the thing for about seven minutes, Parker realized where the robot was taking him. The workshop. It’s headed for the workshop.

As soon as the robot with Parker close behind reached the workshop, it extended its shiny, mechanical arm. Rotating it in a circle to the left, the robot shot lasers at the metal garage door. Seconds later, the robot had made a hole the size of a small car. Letting the metal circle clatter loudly on the garage floor, the robot pushed into Jeb’s workshop. 

Parker gasped for air as he reached the large hole the robot had made. What was it doing? Was it looking for something? As if the robot had heard Parker’s thoughts, it turned around and stared defiantly at Parker with its evil, computerized eyes. Turning to Jeb’s metal stamp collection, the robot reached out and selected a stamp with the imprint of a bear holding a balloon. Jeb’s favorite. Suddenly, the robot flung the stamp against the wall. With a deafening clatter, it split into three pieces, and something small and silver fell out. The key.

Kaboom! A clap of thunder announced an approaching storm. Crash. Parker shut his eyes. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. When he opened his eyes, he was looking straight at the robot. It was not a dream.

Just as the tornado warning sirens started wailing, the robot picked up the key. Crash. The robot inserted the key. Kaboom! The robot turned the key. Without looking back Parker fled.

“Mom!” Parker yelled at his mother who was standing in their driveway. “Mom, my robot came alive and it is following me, it’s gonna kill me!” 

Parker’s mom turned to him. “Don’t be ridiculous your robot is sitting on the front step, but we don’t have time for that now. We need to get to the storm shelter.” Parker glanced at the front step. His robot starred back. Parker jumped. Was he the only one who knew it was alive, and in possession of its key, giving the robot total power and control over its actions?

Parker’s dad came out of the door. On his way, he kicked over the robot, the key cluttered onto the stone step.  The key. “The girls and Mrs. Dunnel are in the shelter. I going to board up the windows.”

“There’s no time.” Parker’s mom replied. All three looked into the horizon. A  massive, black funnel was coming towards them.  Parker looked at the robot and lunged for the key. A silver arm caught him, and the robot spoke in a whisper. 

“Never! It is all mine now. The world will be forever under my control!” Parker looked into the horrifying eyes of the robot. Then he screamed. Picking up the robot, he ran. 

“Parker!” His mother was hysterical.  “Get back here.” She took off after him, and Parker’s dad followed close behind.

Parker did not stop running, The robot clawed at him, but he kept running. He thought of his friends, and his parents, and his sisters. He thought of Jacquelynn and Jeb.

“You will never succeed.” He screamed at the robot in his arms. “Never!”

Faster and faster the tornado whirled. Faster and faster the robot clawed. Faster and faster Parker ran. Then suddenly, Parker was in front of the biggest twister he had ever seen. Massive and opposing it tore everything in its path as if it were stealing revenge for some horrible evil. Without another thought, Robot flung the robot straight into the massive funnel.

“You will never triumph over mankind!”

The twister gave a terrible roar which shook Parker’s very bones. Never. Suddenly, as soon as it had come, the tornado was gone. All that was left were a few screws, bolts, wires, and pieces of metal. The robot was no more.

“Parker!” his mom screamed as she and his dad ran up. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” 

“You can’t just chase a tornado like that.”

‘I know.”

“Sorry about your robot.” Parker’s dad said as he surveyed the pieces. 

“That doesn’t matter.” Parker’s mom said as she embraced him. “Let’s go home.” She stood up and put one arm around Parker, and the other around his dad.

“One second,” Parker said he reached down and picked up a small metal object. The key. Turning around he threw it as far as he could into the sunset. Far out into the majestic, beautiful world. A world, uninhibited by tyrannical robots.