A Story About Robots and Lonely Ghosts

Once, there was a robot.

He had been sent to Earth from a far-away world to search for something very important. The people of his world were dying, because they no longer knew what it was to love and to create. The robot knew nothing; he had no memories and no fears. He knew only of his own design, and of his need to search for what his creators desired. He knew he must search, but he did not know what for.  When he came to Earth, the robot arrived in a forest. He began searching immediately, turning over rocks and rolling over logs. He climbed trees and explored caves, but to no avail. The robot felt confused and afraid for the first time; this new world was alien and unsettling to him. He didn’t know where to go, so he just kept searching. He searched and searched, until he came to a bird. The bird spoke to the robot and the robot spoke to the bird. The bird asked the robot what he was looking for, and the robot replied that he was searching for something very important, but did not know what it was. He asked the bird if he knew where to find any important things. The bird replied that there were many things on Earth which were worth finding, and that everyone who began a search had found something eventually. The robot asked the bird if he would show him the things of Earth which were worth finding, and the bird agreed. The two searched together, with the bird leading the robot to each new discovery. The bird showed the robot the night sky away from the city, and the veins of leaves, and the feeling of sunlight. The robot had not found what he was looking for, but began to feel closer with each discovery. He followed the bird to the smell of coffee, and to the feeling of falling snow. The bird taught the robot to read and to write, and to paint and draw. Upon each discovery, the robot was baffled and elated; it was as if he was being pulled out of a thick fog little by little, and was just seeing sunlight for the first time. It wasn’t long before the bird and the robot became very good friends. They told stories and wrote letters. They splattered paint and walked in the rain. The robot learned to love music and learned how to feel inspiration and insight. The robot had still not found what he was looking for, and began to feel worried. The bird told the robot that nobody ever found just what they were looking for, but always found something worthwhile. The robot was happy and stayed with the bird for many years, until one day, the bird became old and died. The robot was overwhelmed with grief; he held the bird close, and sat in the snow for days, until he came upon a realization. The bird had shown him one last thing. Standing up, the robot scooped up the bird, and walked back to his space ship. He boarded the craft with the bird, and headed back home. As he drifted through space he began writing a letter, just as the bird had shown him. The letter began “To a friend in a far-away place…” . As he wrote, he looked down at the bird. The robot had found something worth discovering. His world would know love once more.

-Alex Petersen

                I wrote this, because I had just taken a midnight walk in a robot helmet, and I felt that the experience deserved a story. While wearing the helmet, the glare from streetlamps made it hard to see, and the helmet shuffling around on my head was constantly making odd noises. Everything looked and sounded different; I felt like I was exploring an alien planet, with nothing but a vague drive to discover that which couldn't be searched for.