Chapter 11

 

When they arrived home, Karen wasn't about to mention it to Henie, but she was bushed. She headed to her office to sit. Henie followed her. “Would you like a glass of ice tea, dear?”

“That sounds good,” Karen said, quickly turning on the computer like she meant to work.

Henie stared at the answering machine. “Your machine is blinking at you.”

“So it is.” Henie left for the kitchen as Karen pushed the button. “Hi Karen. This is Amy Brown. It's time to give back the robot. I'll be coming for her in an hour. Don't bother to call me back with directions to your house. I had to get them from your mother.”

In the kitchen, Henie was just pouring the glass of tea when Karen went to tell her.

“You feeling better,” Henie said, smiling at her.

Karen scraped the chair up under the table. “Can't fool you can I? Yes, sitting a few minutes did wonders. May I have a chocolate chip cookie to go with that ice tea?”

“Of course, you can. Have as many as you can eat?” Henie said generously as she placed the large glass of tea in front of Karen and pushed the cookie plate closer.

“Will you sit with me? I need to talk to you about something,” Karen said.

“What is it now?” Henie said, exasperated as she sat down that Karen might have more questions.

Karen picked up a cookie. “If I told you I don't care whether there's an explanation for how you have somehow channeled my great grandmother, would it make you feel better?”

Henie perked up. “Maybe.”

Karen continued, “I've enjoyed having you here with me. You've livened me up and taught me a thing or two about living.”

Henie's bottom lip jutted out, but her eyes sparkled. “Only a thing or two?”

Karen smiled. “Henie, bottom line is you're good for me. I'd like to have you stay here with me.”

Henie looked pleased. “Thank you, dear. I would like that very much.”

Karen grasped Henie's hand. “The only thing is we don't always get what we want. That missed call on the answering machine was from Amy. She’s coming for you right now.”

“I heard her voice. I was afraid that was what she wanted,” Henie said. “One thing about being an old lady robot is my eyesight and hearing never fails as long as my battery stays charged.”

Karen said reluctantly, “I don't have the money to buy you from Amy so you have to go back with her.”

Henie sighed. “Well, it was fun while it lasted, wasn't it, dear?”

“I don’t know what else I can do,” Karen said with a hitch in her voice. She looked imploringly at Henie and found she was sliding down in her chair. “Henie, are you all right?”

The robot's eyes were half shut, and her head drooped. Her voice came out at a droning, slow pace. “You're not the only thing that played out on that hike. I think my battery may need charging and at the worse time, too.”

Karen tilted her ear to the front of the house. “Oh, no, I hear Amy’s car coming in the driveway. She didn't waste any time getting here.” Suddenly, it was if a light bulb lit in Karen's brain. “Wait a minute! Maybe I have an idea. Henie, stay seated at the table and close your eyes. Don’t say a word until I tell you to speak. Maybe we can make Amy think you're in bad shape.”

Karen answered Amy’s knock on the front door. “Come in. You didn't have any trouble finding my house I see.”

“No, your mother gave me good directions. I'd have been here sooner to take the robot off your hands if you'd been nice enough to email me the directions. Where’s the robot?” Amy asked curtly.

Karen waved back handed. “In the kitchen.”

Amy marched that direction, and Karen followed.

Amy gasped in dismay on first sight of the robot. “What did you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything to your robot,” Karen said innocently as she noticed Henie's attempt to help. She had to quench the desire to laugh and cry all at the same time.

The robot had taken her bun out and frizzed up her gray hair. A thick strand of wavy hair hid half her sagging face.

Amy snorted. “That's not the robot you took home. This one looks like an old woman two sheets to the wind. Why didn't you tell me this happened?”

Karen shrugged. “Acts that way, too. I called you to tell you I watched her transform before my eyes. You didn't seem concerned at the time.”

Amy's face reddened. “I didn't realize she looked this bad. I knew you were a messy housekeeper, but not slob enough to wear her out. She’s nothing but a bucket of bolts now!”

Karen rubbed the back of her neck and agreed, “Before long she’ll be too rusted to move out of that chair.”

“Why didn’t you call me before she got this bad?” Amy demanded.

Karen shrugged. “I just thought this was the way you programmed her to end up.”

“Not to age. She was never supposed to do that. Look at that granny dress and apron. The outfit sure suit her, but I'm sure that wasn't the uniform we sent for her to wear. She’s no good to us the way she looks. We’ll have to build another robot and start over.”

“Have any of the other robots changed their age like this one?” Karen asked innocently.

Amy eyed Henie as the robot's head wobbled back and forth on her shoulders. “No, they have been turned back in, and they're just the same as they left. I don't understand this at all.”

“I'm guess something went wrong with the computer programing in this one,” Karen surmised.

“Could be but from the look of her now, this robot isn't worth fixing,” Amy declared.

Henie's eyes rolled around, and her head flopped onto the table with a resounding plunk as metal hit formica.

“Well, if you don’t want to bother to haul her back to the lab, I’d be willing to keep her until she quits working completely. First thing in the morning, she has enough energy to do the breakfast dishes. That's some help to me.”

“You’re welcome to her, but you have to figure out how to get rid of her later on. I sure don't want her back at the lab for all the other techs to see my failure,” Amy admitted.

Karen grimaced and looked at the floor. “I'm sorry about this not working out for you, Amy.”

Hearing the regretful tone in Karen's voice made Amy remorseful. “Listen, I shouldn't have been ranting and raving at you. It's not your fault the robot failed. You were a good sport to try this experiment because I asked you to do it.

I feel awful for picking on you just now. I have to get back to the lab, but let me know when we can get together for that movie. It and dinner out will be my treat.” With that said, Amy walked back across the living room to the door. She turned to look at the room. “Such a quaint house. It suits you. Now that I know how to find you, you'll have to give me a tour when we have time.” She winked at Karen and left.

Karen stood watch at the living room window until Amy's car was safely out of sight. She came back to the kitchen. “Henie, she’s gone. You can sit up now.”

“Good. What a relief. So I’m a bucket of bolts, am I?” Henie declared huffily, wiping the hair over her shoulder.

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it? You sure acted the part when push came to shove,” Karen teased.

“I heard her say she'd be back to visit. What are we going to do with me when she comes back?” Henie worried.

“You can hide out in the attic. You fit right in there, besides, no one but me and you go to the attic,” Karen said.

“Good thinking,” Henie said.

Karen chuckled. “I'll never forget the condition you were in when I came back in the kitchen with Amy. For a moment, I wondered if you really had imbibed like Amy said.”

Henie narrowed her eyes at Karen. “From now on young lady, show a little respect for your elders if you want me to stick around.

In the old days, I was never inclined to drink. Now I can't imbibe, and you know it. Further more, call me Henrietta or Grandma. No more of that Henie business. I always hated that nickname.”

Karen squinted at the robot. Now that Henie was staying, she sounded as if she was in charge. Then again hadn't she been all along? Karen leaned over and gave Henie a hug. “I’d like to call you Grandma.”

Henie smiled as she patted Karen's hand. “I’m, glad. Now be a dear. Run upstairs and get my connection to charge my battery. I don't think I'm strong enough to walk. When you come back, I'll tell you all my ideas about how to liven this place up. First, we need chickens.”

Wishing she had ear plugs, Karen rushed out of the room with Henie's voice following her up the stairs.

 

 

About The Author

 

Hello! I'm Fay Risner. I go by booksbyfay online. For several years, I wrote short stories and entered them in contests. Now I'm in the process of turning the short stories into novellas like Grandma Robot.

You will find my list of books in the front of this book. I have a mixture of genres. Changing genres gives me flexibility as a writer. All my books are designed to offer some humor along with the serious moments. I write in 12 or 14 font to make my books reader friendly, and all my stories are suitable for any age group.

My husband and I live on an acreage with chickens, goats, rabbits and cats. We enjoy raising a large garden and flowers. For fun, we go fishing in the summer.

If you have time to write a review for any of my books, please do that for me to help other readers find my books.