A Girl And Her Automaton It was relatively quiet in the halls of the great house, the soft tick tick tick of clockwork gears and the sound of gentle footsteps on carpet were the only sounds the clockwork automaton could hear. One would think she could not truly hear, could not truly perceive, she was just made to clean after all, a simple clockwork contraption, but such a thing could not be further from the truth. She was more than a maid, more than a parlor trick, she was a pen you pull apart and then try to put back together, in that she was far more complex than she appeared, for under all those gears and cogs, was a sophisticated series of punchcards, able to simulate emotions that she could feel and humans could see within her. Whether or not that’s true emotion, well, that was a question for philosophers, not for her or her employers or the mechanic who built her and sent her out into the world. All she knew was that she was here, and she felt these things, and was filled with a sense calm at the moment, as she was done with her usual duties. The sound of running pulled her out of her musing, little footsteps rushing across the plush carpet as she turned around. She saw who was running towards her then, and smiled at the little girl, no older than six, with cinnamon hair and eyes like the most wide and lush evergreen forest. As the little girl reached her, she hugged the android's legs, smiling widely as she shouted the mechanical woman's name, "Emily!" Emily picked the little girl up in her arms, holding her close and feeling her warmth against the cold metal of her arms and torso, felt the child wrap her arms around Emily's neck in yet another hug, "Hello Evangeline." Evangeline giggled at being picked up before looking Emily in her glass eyes and saying, "I found something for you Emily!" The gears controlling Emily's expressions clicked ever so softly as she quirked her eyebrows, "Oh? What did you find?" Evangeline dug into the pocket of her little white apron, which rested against her fine, sky blue dress. Evangeline's father had never approved of the apron, he said she wasn't a maid and shouldn't dress like one, but she didn't care, it made her look like Emily and it had pockets. But that didn't matter, as Evangeline found what she was looking for, a stone the size of her palm. It had a glass like sheen, and had the color of yellowish porcelain. Its shape was that of a somewhat squished snake's egg and there were flecks of algae green, like a lake had been captured beneath a microscope. There was a line was near the top, interrupting the smooth texture with a rough feeling as Emily ran her finger over it. The line had the color of dry algae, rust brown beneath the glassy surface around the line. The sight and feeling of the stone made Emily smile warmly, "What a lovely stone, Evangeline." Evangeline told her, "I found it near the pond, it's pretty like you Emily!" Really looking at it, Emily thought it didn't really look like her. She was made of a brass copper alloy and she shined a metallic orange gold color. She wasn't smooth, not really, she had far too many working parts for such a description, too many little gears and pistons and joints. Nonetheless, she knew exactly what Evangeline meant, knew that she meant that she thought Emily was beautiful, like any child thought of their mother. She was more than touched, she felt her clockwork heart swell with joy, and she said, "Thank you Evangeline, it really is a pretty stone." Evangeline smiled at her tastes being validated and asked, Emily, "Can we go have a snack?" "Of course my little star, we can head to the kitchen right now," and so Emily walked there with Evangeline in her arms. Upon arriving to the kitchen, Emily sat Evangeline down on a wooden stool as she took an apple from the fruit basket and a knife from the wood block, placing the dark red fruit on a cutting board before cutting it into wedges. The knife made a gentle knocking sound against the cutting board each time she cut a slice. When she was done, she plated the apple and placed it in front of Evangeline, who picked up a wedge and bit into it, making a rather satisfying crunch sound. Evangeline looked at Emily and wondered something, and so decided to ask, "Emily, why don't you eat?" "It's because I can't and don't need to. I don't have a stomach, I only have clockwork heart." Evangeline always knew Emily wasn't human, it wasn't a secret, and even a child knew that metal was not skin, but she still asked, "Emily, are you my mummy?" Evangeline felt her heart almost grind to a halt, it hurt to say but, "You know I'm not dear, you know that your mummy's no longer with us." Evangeline played with the apple wedge in her hand, passing it between her hands, "I know, but you take care of me like a mummy, and I love you like my mummy, that makes you my mummy right?" Emily thought for a moment, hands gripping the table a bit, she was honored that Evangeline thought that of her, and yet she knew her employer wouldn't like for his departed wife to be replaced in his daughter's mind by a machine. Yet Evangeline had been so young when it happened, so she settled on, "Yes, just don't tell your father that, he misses your first mummy very much." Evangeline smiled widely as she got down from her stool and rushed to hug Emily, "I love you Emily!" Emily crouched down and hugged her back, "I love you too my little Evangeline, so much."
Copyright Sam Garcia 2024 |