Personal Narrative 2
I wake up at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. It is January 20, 2007 and I have no plans for the day. I lay in bed for a while daydreaming of being anywhere but the dark and creepy basement bedroom I am forced to live in. The reason I am stuck down here is because Joey’s playroom is the other upstairs bedroom. That’s funny because he is down here constantly. It seems like he finds bugging me much more fun than his videogames.
Soon, as I expected, he bursts into my room thus beginning the average morning routine of getting in trouble for yelling at him. I run upstairs to complain and the strangest thing happens. My mom and Ralph sit Joey down and explain that he needs to respect my privacy. While they do that I decide to go check on my little sister who would normally be watching TV by now. I head down to her room and hear her kicking on the walls. This is completely normal. She is a stubborn little girl who enjoys making a ruckus.
I open her door and instantly know something is wrong. There is puke all over the room and she is there having a seizure. I rush to her and call for my mom. I help my mother take care of her. By now, this is something I know how to do, but nothing we are doing seems to help. My mom checks Lydia for a breath and discovers she has none. She begins rushing her to the car.
I am told to stay home and watch Joey but several seconds later mom rushed back in and begins CPR because Lydia no longer has a heartbeat. Ralph ruses to the phone to call 911 and I watch in panic. Soon the paramedics arrive and the do CPR then load Lydia into to the ambulance. My mom goes with them.
After they leave, Ralph tells me to go to my room while he goes to help Joey who has ADHO and doesn’t understand what is happening. After a while the phone rings. A few minutes, later Ralph comes in to say my mom wants him to go to the hospital and I have to stay home and watch Joey. I try to read his emotions and figure out what happened but I can’t.
I spend the next hour or so talking to my friends in an attempt to relieve my worry. I go check on Joey every fifteen minutes or so. I try to avoid him as much as possible because I am panicking and I don’t know how he will respond.
About an hour later, I receive a call from my dad who lives two hours away. He is crying and almost impossible to understand. I manage to hear the word “grandma.” Then before he hangs up I understand him say “she didn’t make it.”
This is the point where I lose it. I burst into tears. After about fifteen minutes I try to pull myself together and go check on Joey. I decide not to tell him because I really don’t think I can. I walk upstairs and find him playing with the toys we bought for Lydia last night. I quickly tell him to put them away and go play in his own room. Surprisingly, he listens to me and I rush downstairs before I burst into tears again.
About 15 minutes later I receive a call from my grandma in Pilger. She explains that my dad received a call from my grandma in Las Vegas. As soon as I get off the phone with her, I begin to try to call my mom. She doesn’t answer so I start telling my friends. They are super supportive for me.
Around 1 p.m. my mom and Ralph return home. I just go up to my mom and hug her. She starts to tell me but I explain that I know. She tells me that my grandma from Vegas will be coming and we have to pick her up from the airport at 5 p.m.
I spend the afternoon crying and talking to my friends. At 5 we head to the airport to pick up my grandma. We take her to Sizzler for dinner. Unhelpfully, Lydia’s Crazy Frog CD is playing in the car. This has been the longest day of my life. It is Saturday, January 20, 2007 and my life is going to be different from now on.
Monday, 25 April 2011
Song Inspired Story
Song Inspired Story
My mom used to tell me a story every night before I went to bed. It wasn’t a story about princes and princesses. Okay, it was but not the kind you would expect. There weren’t any little talking cuddly animals either. Those types of things were of no interest to me. My mom told me the story of the Robot who fell in love. The Robot's name was STEVE, Self Transitioning Electronic Variety Executor. I always thought that meant he was used to kill people. She always told me that it was just a name.
STEVE worked for a wealthy royal family in the twenty-third century. The King's name was King Lexiban. His wife was Queen Ellie. They had a son named Rex and three daughters named Hattie, Alexia, and Rose. Their land was called Carendula. When they first hired STEVE the oldest of the children, Hattie, was 23 and the youngest, Alexia, was 16. Rex and Rose were twins who were nearly 18 at the time.
With her older siblings preparing for life as adults, Alexia was often left to spend her time alone. She found great comfort in reading. By her 18th birthday she had read every book her family owned. At this point, she had to ask STEVE to purchase her more books.
Robots at this time did their tasks by using bar codes that were on everything they needed. STEVE had been at the top of his class at Robot Academy. He was approximately twenty years old when he joined the family although for a robot age really doesn’t mean anything. When Alexia asked him for books he was quick to assist. He rushed down to the local book machine and began processing her request. The weather was rather stormy and while he was there he was struck by some lightning. He quickly reset himself and hurried home with Alexia's books. It was then bedtime. He plugged himself into his room and shut down for the night.
That night he had his first unrobotish experience. He had a dream. In his dream, he saw millions of pages from books. He heard a voice telling him he had to read them or he would be sent to the Robot Cemetery. All through the day he was slightly distracted by his dream. He had the same dream every night that week. He finally decided to do something about it.
The next morning he went to Alexia's room. He asked her if she would teach him to read. She was confused as to why he would want to read but she did agree to help. They spent every afternoon together. First, they stuck to reading simple children's books. Then they decided to try more advanced books. Now, STEVE could read anything he wanted to.
With all of his reading he was beginning to better understand humans and their emotions. He was worried because robots aren’t supposed to have feelings. He was always taught that emotions and feelings were bad. He then thought about how Alexia had feelings and emotions and she was okay. He had actually been thinking about Alexia a lot. Whenever he read, he thought of all of those afternoons spent with her. Every morning, he woke up wondering what help she would need him for that day. She was always on his mind.
He went to his books to figure out why this could be. He eventually discovered that he was in love. He decided to go tell Alexia that he loved her. He knocked on her door. She was surprised to see him. He explained to her how he had been thinking about her constantly and that he was in love with her. She told her that her parents had just arranged a marriage for her and that she could never really love a robot anyways. STEVE was heartbroken.
That night, the Queen asked STEVE to help prepare a fancy dinner because they were having a very important guest. STEVE was happy to help because it would give him something to get his mind off of Alexia. He spent the next day in the kitchen preparing a meal. When it was time for dinner he gathered up the food and headed out to serve it. When he was finished, the Queen introduced STEVE to Hank, Alexia’s future husband.
STEVE went nuts and began attacking Hank. By the time STEVE realized what was happening, it was too late. He had killed Hank. STEVE quickly apologized and resigned. He went to collect his things.
As he was leaving, Alexia stopped him. She told him she was sorry and that she felt she was to blame. He thanked her and left. STEVE never saw Alexia or her family again. He also never allowed himself to read anymore. He still thinks about Alexia all the time. She is his curse.
My mom used to tell me a story every night before I went to bed. It wasn’t a story about princes and princesses. Okay, it was but not the kind you would expect. There weren’t any little talking cuddly animals either. Those types of things were of no interest to me. My mom told me the story of the Robot who fell in love. The Robot's name was STEVE, Self Transitioning Electronic Variety Executor. I always thought that meant he was used to kill people. She always told me that it was just a name.
STEVE worked for a wealthy royal family in the twenty-third century. The King's name was King Lexiban. His wife was Queen Ellie. They had a son named Rex and three daughters named Hattie, Alexia, and Rose. Their land was called Carendula. When they first hired STEVE the oldest of the children, Hattie, was 23 and the youngest, Alexia, was 16. Rex and Rose were twins who were nearly 18 at the time.
With her older siblings preparing for life as adults, Alexia was often left to spend her time alone. She found great comfort in reading. By her 18th birthday she had read every book her family owned. At this point, she had to ask STEVE to purchase her more books.
Robots at this time did their tasks by using bar codes that were on everything they needed. STEVE had been at the top of his class at Robot Academy. He was approximately twenty years old when he joined the family although for a robot age really doesn’t mean anything. When Alexia asked him for books he was quick to assist. He rushed down to the local book machine and began processing her request. The weather was rather stormy and while he was there he was struck by some lightning. He quickly reset himself and hurried home with Alexia's books. It was then bedtime. He plugged himself into his room and shut down for the night.
That night he had his first unrobotish experience. He had a dream. In his dream, he saw millions of pages from books. He heard a voice telling him he had to read them or he would be sent to the Robot Cemetery. All through the day he was slightly distracted by his dream. He had the same dream every night that week. He finally decided to do something about it.
The next morning he went to Alexia's room. He asked her if she would teach him to read. She was confused as to why he would want to read but she did agree to help. They spent every afternoon together. First, they stuck to reading simple children's books. Then they decided to try more advanced books. Now, STEVE could read anything he wanted to.
With all of his reading he was beginning to better understand humans and their emotions. He was worried because robots aren’t supposed to have feelings. He was always taught that emotions and feelings were bad. He then thought about how Alexia had feelings and emotions and she was okay. He had actually been thinking about Alexia a lot. Whenever he read, he thought of all of those afternoons spent with her. Every morning, he woke up wondering what help she would need him for that day. She was always on his mind.
He went to his books to figure out why this could be. He eventually discovered that he was in love. He decided to go tell Alexia that he loved her. He knocked on her door. She was surprised to see him. He explained to her how he had been thinking about her constantly and that he was in love with her. She told her that her parents had just arranged a marriage for her and that she could never really love a robot anyways. STEVE was heartbroken.
That night, the Queen asked STEVE to help prepare a fancy dinner because they were having a very important guest. STEVE was happy to help because it would give him something to get his mind off of Alexia. He spent the next day in the kitchen preparing a meal. When it was time for dinner he gathered up the food and headed out to serve it. When he was finished, the Queen introduced STEVE to Hank, Alexia’s future husband.
STEVE went nuts and began attacking Hank. By the time STEVE realized what was happening, it was too late. He had killed Hank. STEVE quickly apologized and resigned. He went to collect his things.
As he was leaving, Alexia stopped him. She told him she was sorry and that she felt she was to blame. He thanked her and left. STEVE never saw Alexia or her family again. He also never allowed himself to read anymore. He still thinks about Alexia all the time. She is his curse.
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