RoboHen's heart was heavy. His mom had asked him to find the perfect present for his best friend, RoboPeacock, for her birthday, and he did not think he would succeed. Dear reader, she just had everything a peacock could want. Her grannie spoiled her, buying her golden feather clips and silver doodads, and RoboHen didn't think he could compete at that level of luxury.
There was nothing to do but get out his present-making machine. It had thirteen different settings, and it could make more than fifteen hundred presents in all. RoboHen felt his breathing steady as he made his selections. First, he chose a pleasant color he knew she would like - peacock blue. The next feature he selected was "fuzzy," and he smiled as he pushed that button. He gave the last button, which was very large, a healthy press, as he read the words "cold season" that ran across it. (It had been an extremely icy winter on the eastern side of the U.S., and this was not easy to forget.) RoboHen was very excited indeed to see the result.
The machine began to hum and whir and thump. The humming increased, and suddenly the machine shot out an interesting-looking product. It was a fuzzy peacock-blue sweater with leather patches on the elbows. It was beautiful, but RoboHen wanted one more present so RoboPeacock's birthday would be extra special, so he repeated the process and pressed the buttons again. Out came a gorgeous hat! When he gave it to his friend, all the people in the room gasped at its beauty, and RoboHen gained freedom from his own doubts and worries. He had thought he would be defeated by this task, but it took on new meaning for him as he started to think about what his friend would truly love.
Moral: When we think of others instead of ourselves, sometimes a difficult task becomes easy.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
RoboHen Refuses to Do Anything Useful
On Tuesday, RoboHen was full of excuses. He couldn't do his chores because his granola bar snack was too chewy and took him an hour to eat. He couldn't clean his room because he had a toothache. He couldn't shampoo his feathers because the shampoo might pollute the lair's garden.
So poor RoboHen's mom gave up. She had to reduce the number of things she could accomplish because RoboHen decided to do fewer of them. Instead of making the orange sorbet cake with orange sorbet on top that she had planned as a treat for RoboHen, she cooked him ramen noodles for lunch. Instead of polishing RoboHen's scooter, she had to clean the kitchen, leaving RoboHen to amuse himself.
Back in his room, relieved of doing his chores, RoboHen was bored, so he doodled. He doodled a cartoon rooster holding a green balloon. Then he included a raccoon washing a shiny jewel in a river. Then he sketched a cougar in a giant orange cocoon. His doodle was a thing of beauty. He was so happy with it that he confused his mom by wandering out into the kitchen and asking her what he could do to help. For the rest of the afternoon, he was so useful that she made that orange sorbet cake after all.
So poor RoboHen's mom gave up. She had to reduce the number of things she could accomplish because RoboHen decided to do fewer of them. Instead of making the orange sorbet cake with orange sorbet on top that she had planned as a treat for RoboHen, she cooked him ramen noodles for lunch. Instead of polishing RoboHen's scooter, she had to clean the kitchen, leaving RoboHen to amuse himself.
Back in his room, relieved of doing his chores, RoboHen was bored, so he doodled. He doodled a cartoon rooster holding a green balloon. Then he included a raccoon washing a shiny jewel in a river. Then he sketched a cougar in a giant orange cocoon. His doodle was a thing of beauty. He was so happy with it that he confused his mom by wandering out into the kitchen and asking her what he could do to help. For the rest of the afternoon, he was so useful that she made that orange sorbet cake after all.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
The RoboCoaster
One day, RoboHen awoke with a brilliant idea for the lower part of his lair. He would build a roller coaster! Of course, when he tried to approach his mom, she said, "Absolutely not," but since when has that ever stopped RoboHen? He knew he couldn't ask her for help, so he slapped a bunch of postage on an envelope and mailed it to Europe. He ordered the fanciest parts for a super-scary roller coaster that would explode the riders into the air at the end. "I suppose," said RoboHen to himself, "that it won't really explode, but it will be the best basement coaster ever."
The package came on the day his mom was being hostess to a tea party upstairs. She had no idea what was going on below ground in the remote recesses of the basement. RoboHen was alone, but he was certainly not lonely. He was surrounded by what looked like a bunch of toaster parts and bowling alley pieces. He had a wonderful time trying to decode the instructions. He felt like a soldier trying to understand a secret mission. Then he discovered just what he needed - the owner of the company had sent him a special poster. It told him just how to compose the roller coaster. He put on his loafers, dried his soapy hands, and got to work on this lonesome task. Even though it took 125 hours, his confidence was not eroded.
And if the whipped cream doesn't fall into the chocolate pudding, next time we will hear about the mischief RoboHen got up to with the roller coaster.
The package came on the day his mom was being hostess to a tea party upstairs. She had no idea what was going on below ground in the remote recesses of the basement. RoboHen was alone, but he was certainly not lonely. He was surrounded by what looked like a bunch of toaster parts and bowling alley pieces. He had a wonderful time trying to decode the instructions. He felt like a soldier trying to understand a secret mission. Then he discovered just what he needed - the owner of the company had sent him a special poster. It told him just how to compose the roller coaster. He put on his loafers, dried his soapy hands, and got to work on this lonesome task. Even though it took 125 hours, his confidence was not eroded.
And if the whipped cream doesn't fall into the chocolate pudding, next time we will hear about the mischief RoboHen got up to with the roller coaster.
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