Mechanical Caretaker

Mechanical Caretaker

Rows of trees lined the nursery and a gentle breeze blew through the pines.  The caretaker rolled along on his three wheels.  He stopped every few feet to water each pine tree.  Two adults, a father and mother, came into the row where he continued to move from one tree to the next.  The man looked down at the caretaker and sneered briefly.  His wife clung to his arm in revulsion of the innocent caretaker.

                A few minutes later, a young girl in a bright yellow dress came skipping up behind her parents. She stopped short and stared at the caretaker as he moved from tree to tree.  She was amazed at his repetitive action of going through the rows.  The caretaker moved forward, almost ignoring the girl.  He saw ahead of him one small flower.  It was a purple lilac.  The caretaker picked up the flower and turned to give it to the little girl.

                She simply smiled and giggled as he handed it to her.  She then bowed and said, “Thank you, very much.”  She went and showed her flower to her parents who in turn looked back at the caretaker.

                The wife turned her nose up and pulled the little girl along with them.  Without any thought, the caretaker continued on his mission inspecting the pine trees in the next row.  He soon came to the end of a row and began the next one when one of his wheels caught on a rock and tipped him over onto the hard ground.  The caretaker used his limbs to lift himself back up and continue.

                In the row he started, a tall man chopped at a lone pine tree.  The caretaker wheeled quickly toward the man.  He was in a long black coat and had a large axe. 

                The caretaker grabbed the axe, “You will stop what you are doing.  Only I am authorized to pull out these trees.”

                “What are you going to do about it?” the man sneered.

                “I will throw you out into the canyon.” The caretaker replied.

                “You don’t have that kind of strength being a caretaker.” The man laughed haughtily.

                “WATCH ME!” the caretaker boomed.  He quickly dropped the axe and lunged for the man’s legs.  The man fell hard onto the ground.  He rubbed his head with his one arm and with the other; he tried to release the grip the caretaker had on his leg.

                Without reply, the caretaker turned and started out away from the trees.  The man hollered and bounced along as the caretaker continued to drag him.  The man soon saw where they headed.  He made a greater effort to escape the grip, kicking and screaming, each time with more force.  The caretaker did not release the man, but kept his focus on the edge of the cliff.  The canyon held a large lake at the bottom.  The destination for this rude tree cutter apparently enraged the man.  He pulled on his leg and continued to try to release his foot.

                The caretaker started turning around and round.  His momentum gained, the speed becoming dizzy.  The man’s screams stopped and the caretaker released his leg.  The man flew off over the edge of the cliff and dropped quickly in the water down below.  He made a loud splash and then started paddling toward the shore. 

                Without looking back, the caretaker turned and journeyed back to his task.  The trees waited for him.  As he came closer, he saw the family he had seen earlier.  He rolled past them and the father came up to the small three wheeled robot and said, “We’re ready to pick out our tree.” He said with respect to the caretaker.

                “It will be but a moment.” The robot replied.  He wheeled away to where the axe lay and gripped it in his mechanical arms.  His work would soon continue after felling the appropriate tree.  He journeyed back to where the family waited.

                A few chops and the tree came down.  The little girl giggled again and hugged the caretaker.

                “I was wrong about your kind.  You really take care of these trees well, even if it cost you destruction.  It gives me a new respect for you.” The father replied.

                “Thank you.” The caretaker replied.  He didn’t continue a conversation, but moved away and rolled back to the row of trees he was working on.  His programming continued, but the robot held himself a little higher with the compliment he received.  This could be a start to a new relationship between human & robot.  Only time will tell.

END

Author's Note

Tell me what you think. If it needs some additional dialogue or story let me know.

Reviews

[Alysa Taladay]

Very interesting. It would be good to see some more depth into the characters, and maybe some insight as to where the caretaker comes from, or what kind of world he lives in. I assume these are Christmas trees?