i wrote this for an eighth grade assignment. it had to be science fiction. it must be 'okay' because i scored a 98% and my teacher said it was one of the best.
Kaye opened her eyes, and yawned away her tiredness. It took a little bit of effort for her to reach out to the small table near her and turn of her alarm. She sat up on her Bed Pod and stretched her arms above her head. Once she felt she was awake as she could ever be at 7:15 on a summer morning, she walked over to iPal, and whispered, "Wake up, sleepy." Then she walked over to the window, and looked out at Clearview, New York.
"Good morning Kaye, shall I start cooking breakfast, or would you like me to wait until you are dressed?" iPal asked, as he assumed his position in the air a foot away from Kaye's knotted blonde head.
"No thanks, I think I'm just going to catch some breakfast at the iMall." Kaye walked over to what looked like a clear plastic magazine. She picked up the iCloset, and turned to page seventeen, summer dresses. She looked at the ten possible choices, and made a selection. She tapped the picture of a short white dress with red rose trim and took a step backward.
iPal turned away as she stripped to her white tank top and short shorts. In front of her the dress appeared, and she climbed into it. "Could you please retrieve my iHair wand, iPal?"
"Certainly." As iPal spoke, the rainbow bars on his screen blinked. His voice was robotic, which made sense. He was indeed, a robot. One packaged with an excessive amount of magnificent skills. But iPal was not a servant to Kaye, he was her friend, the person, well, thing she could depend on the most.
Kaye turned to another page in the iCloset, page fifty-four, labeled shoes. She picked out a pair of sandals that had the same red color as the roses on her dress. In a matter of seconds, they formed in front of her, and she gently placed them on her size seven feet. "Perfect," she said with a smile, as she reviewed her appearance in the full length mirror.
"Your iHair wand, Kaye." The wand dropped into Kaye's outstretched hand from a bent metal arm with a claw attached protruding from the left side of iPal.
Kaye took the wand and ran it slowly down the right side of her hair. Instantly, the hair was French braided tightly against her skull. She repeated the simple procedure on the left side of her head, and then inspected the wand's work in the mirror.
"Date please, iPal," Kaye requested as she walked towards the clear glass stairs.
"August twenty-seventh, two thousand seventy-four. Today you have arranged to meet Ash and Arielle at the iMall at 8:10. You also have eleven iMails waiting for you." iPal said without any emotion. It was the last day of summer and in only a week Kaye would be overwhelmed with Freshman Year homework.
***
September third, two thousand seventy-four
"Kaye, it is almost midnight, I think you should get to bed soon," iPal spoke quietly, in fear that if he spoke in a demanding tone, she would flip out at him. He tried his hardest, but her deprivation of sleep had her yelling instead of speaking over the past few days.
"I can't go to sleep! I still have to do my English homework!" Kaye screamed. That morning she had woken up late, and only had a minute and forty-seven seconds to get ready. She ended up just wearing sweat pants and a tee-shirt. She did not have enough time to do her hair before she had to run to the iBus stop. So she arrived at school with a bad case of bed head. "My tardiness was all your fault!" She screeched at iPal. After screaming so much, she had begun to lose her voice.
"I'm desperately sorry, Kaye. As I told you earlier," iPal said as he drooped down about six inches in the air. "I must have forgotten to set the alarm last night."
"It's okay, I'm sorry for being so rude. It wasn't like you did it on purpose." Kaye smiled weakly at him.
"You know I would never try to harm you, or do anything to hurt you, Kaye," iPal had to turn away from her so she wouldn't see his digital smirk. Kaye patted the top of his floating body, and said,
"I know that. And thanks for always being there for me, iPal. It must be so hard on you when I flip out, I'm sorry you have to deal with such a temperamental girl."
"Don't be sorry at all, we all have some moments of intense frustration, and it's hard not to hurt the ones around you emotionally," iPal tried his best to keep a neutral face as he spoke.
"Well, now that I'm finished all my devilish homework, I should get some sleep. Goodnight, iPal," Kaye mumbled with a yawn as she crawled into her Bed Pod.
"Yes, goodnight." Once Kaye was fast asleep and her breathing was steady, iPal opened up her itinerary and deleted her entire schedule. He entered her iMail address and deleted all her messages in her inbox. With a smile on his face, he selected the option compose message and addressed the first letter to Ash743@iPal.net and the second to OhMyGoshArielle@iPal.net, Kaye's two closest friends', besides iPal, iMail addresses. He typed the following message:
Hello,
I have been thinking about our friendship, and I don't believe that it is working out well for me. You just aren't as dependable as I'd like my close friends to be. Also, you embarrass me all the time in public and at school. I have to obtain a certain social status at school, and I don't think that you are up to my standards. I think it would be best for me if you never talk to me ever again. You just aren't cool enough for me.
Starting when you are finished reading this letter, don't talk to me ever again. I will be too busy trying not to acknowledge your existence on this earth to listen to whatever you have to say. Don't even try to sit with me on the iBus, at lunch, or during any classes.
Hoping to never see your stupid face again,
Kaye
For only a second, iPal thought about deleting the text, and not sending the message, but after only two minutes of consideration, he clicked send. He made sure not to set the alarm for the morning, and slowly dropped down to the top of the computer desk, and went to sleep.
***
September fourth, two thousand seventy-four
"I can't believe this happened again!" Kaye shouted as loud as she could with her scratchy throat. She struggled to get out of bed and stomped over to iPal. "Wake up!" She screamed at him, and he jerked up so fast, that he smacked her right on the jaw. "Ouch! Ergh! Look at the time!" She pointed with her index finger at the clock hidden on the small table behind her.
iPal zoomed over to the Bed Pod side table and peered over the stack of papers at the digital alarm clock. The red letters exclaimed 9:30. He looked at her bright red face, and started to feel guilty. Don't regret what you did, he thought to himself, she deserved what she got after the way she depends on you for everything.
"I set the alarm last night, Kaye, I promise I did," he said as innocently as he could, faking a look of surprise.
"That doesn't matter right now! I have to get to school somehow! Mom and Dad are still on that business trip to New Zealand so I have no one to drive me to school! I can't walk because it's too far away!" Kaye exploded.
"Why don't you just stay home today and relax?"
"Because I have two tests today and I can't afford to stay after school one day to take them!" iPal had never seen Kaye so angry, and couldn't help but feel bad about what he had done. But there was no way that he was going to give in. He had to get back at her for demanding so much from him, even if she always asked politely saying 'please' and 'thank you'.
"Well, how about you walk the half mile to the iMall, and then from there take the iBus to your school?" iPal announced his idea in such a convincing tone. It really did sound as if he cared about whether she got to school, or failed out of the ninth grade.
"Fine, I just have to get ready first, so pick me out a pair of jeans, my orange floral shirt, and a pair of sneakers, I think I have gym today," Kaye demanded. This was one of the first times she had ever asked something from iPal without being polite and friendly.
"No, I don't think I will," iPal announced, imagining if he were a human and he said that, he would puff out his chest and stand his ground. But he was a mere robot and all he could do was speak.
"What did you just say to me?" Kaye asked, with extreme disbelief in her voice. Did she just hear what she thought she heard?
"Nothing, I didn't say anything. I'll go get your clothes," iPal couldn't believe himself. He had so much confidence, but he couldn't go through with something as simple as being rude to Kaye. At least not to her face.
"That's what I thought!" Kaye stomped away towards the bathroom, to brush her teeth and do her hair.
***
At school
"Hey! Ash! Arielle! Wait for me!" Kaye said loud enough so they could hear in the cafeteria during lunch. They were in the lunch line ahead of her, so she started her way butting in front of other people to reach her friends.
When she finally got next to them, they had their backs towards her. She expected that they just did not hear her, that it was nothing personal. But after a few minutes she could not help but feel she had missed something.
"Guys, what's the problem?" she asked desperately. They just looked at her. Once they had gotten their food, she decided to try again.
"Did I do something? Say something? What?" She was beginning to get nervous; they had never gotten in a big fight before. After about ten minutes of pestering them, Ash finally spoke.
"Why don't you just go hang out with people cooler than us?" he asked, with a stern expression on his face. There was no way that he was joking.
"Why would I want to do that? You two are the coolest people I know. We've been friends since fourth grade," Kaye was more confused than she was in Algebra two the day before. Now it was Arielle's turn to speak:
"I thought you said you never wanted us to talk to you after we read that stupid message you sent us?" At first Kaye thought this was just a well thought out joke. But now she knew it was so serious.
"What message? I have no idea what you are-" Kaye was cut off when Ash handed her a piece of paper folded in half that he had dug out of one of the three binders in his arms. She took the paper and read the message that was signed with her name.
"What?! I never wrote this! I would never say any of this stuff to you guys! You are my best friends ever." Right then, Kaye dropped her jaw. She knew exactly who sent the letter.
iPal.
***
At home
"iPal come down here. Now!" Kaye screamed at the top of her lungs so the iPal would hear her frustration from her third floor bedroom where he should have been cleaning up.
When nothing happened, Kaye stomped up the two flights of stairs and swung open her door with so much force she was surprised she didn't rip it of its hinges. Where was iPal?
She looked at her desk where iPal usually slept, he wasn't there. But there was another iMail. She picked it up, and read it:
Kaye,
This is the part where I am supposed to apologize for all the I have done wrong in the past week or so. But I am not going to. You depended on me way too much; I just had to get back at you. I know you thought of me as a friend, and I thought of you as one too. Imagine how it felt being asked to bring you this, plan that, read you your iMails, and make sure that you are on time for everything.
I have left to find another owner. Someone who won't depend on me as much. Have a good life.
iPal
Kaye crumpled up the letter and muttered "Stupid technology."
Short story by kaytee
Read 740 times
Written on 2007-03-08 at 23:54
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iEnemy
Beep, beep, beep.Kaye opened her eyes, and yawned away her tiredness. It took a little bit of effort for her to reach out to the small table near her and turn of her alarm. She sat up on her Bed Pod and stretched her arms above her head. Once she felt she was awake as she could ever be at 7:15 on a summer morning, she walked over to iPal, and whispered, "Wake up, sleepy." Then she walked over to the window, and looked out at Clearview, New York.
"Good morning Kaye, shall I start cooking breakfast, or would you like me to wait until you are dressed?" iPal asked, as he assumed his position in the air a foot away from Kaye's knotted blonde head.
"No thanks, I think I'm just going to catch some breakfast at the iMall." Kaye walked over to what looked like a clear plastic magazine. She picked up the iCloset, and turned to page seventeen, summer dresses. She looked at the ten possible choices, and made a selection. She tapped the picture of a short white dress with red rose trim and took a step backward.
iPal turned away as she stripped to her white tank top and short shorts. In front of her the dress appeared, and she climbed into it. "Could you please retrieve my iHair wand, iPal?"
"Certainly." As iPal spoke, the rainbow bars on his screen blinked. His voice was robotic, which made sense. He was indeed, a robot. One packaged with an excessive amount of magnificent skills. But iPal was not a servant to Kaye, he was her friend, the person, well, thing she could depend on the most.
Kaye turned to another page in the iCloset, page fifty-four, labeled shoes. She picked out a pair of sandals that had the same red color as the roses on her dress. In a matter of seconds, they formed in front of her, and she gently placed them on her size seven feet. "Perfect," she said with a smile, as she reviewed her appearance in the full length mirror.
"Your iHair wand, Kaye." The wand dropped into Kaye's outstretched hand from a bent metal arm with a claw attached protruding from the left side of iPal.
Kaye took the wand and ran it slowly down the right side of her hair. Instantly, the hair was French braided tightly against her skull. She repeated the simple procedure on the left side of her head, and then inspected the wand's work in the mirror.
"Date please, iPal," Kaye requested as she walked towards the clear glass stairs.
"August twenty-seventh, two thousand seventy-four. Today you have arranged to meet Ash and Arielle at the iMall at 8:10. You also have eleven iMails waiting for you." iPal said without any emotion. It was the last day of summer and in only a week Kaye would be overwhelmed with Freshman Year homework.
***
September third, two thousand seventy-four
"Kaye, it is almost midnight, I think you should get to bed soon," iPal spoke quietly, in fear that if he spoke in a demanding tone, she would flip out at him. He tried his hardest, but her deprivation of sleep had her yelling instead of speaking over the past few days.
"I can't go to sleep! I still have to do my English homework!" Kaye screamed. That morning she had woken up late, and only had a minute and forty-seven seconds to get ready. She ended up just wearing sweat pants and a tee-shirt. She did not have enough time to do her hair before she had to run to the iBus stop. So she arrived at school with a bad case of bed head. "My tardiness was all your fault!" She screeched at iPal. After screaming so much, she had begun to lose her voice.
"I'm desperately sorry, Kaye. As I told you earlier," iPal said as he drooped down about six inches in the air. "I must have forgotten to set the alarm last night."
"It's okay, I'm sorry for being so rude. It wasn't like you did it on purpose." Kaye smiled weakly at him.
"You know I would never try to harm you, or do anything to hurt you, Kaye," iPal had to turn away from her so she wouldn't see his digital smirk. Kaye patted the top of his floating body, and said,
"I know that. And thanks for always being there for me, iPal. It must be so hard on you when I flip out, I'm sorry you have to deal with such a temperamental girl."
"Don't be sorry at all, we all have some moments of intense frustration, and it's hard not to hurt the ones around you emotionally," iPal tried his best to keep a neutral face as he spoke.
"Well, now that I'm finished all my devilish homework, I should get some sleep. Goodnight, iPal," Kaye mumbled with a yawn as she crawled into her Bed Pod.
"Yes, goodnight." Once Kaye was fast asleep and her breathing was steady, iPal opened up her itinerary and deleted her entire schedule. He entered her iMail address and deleted all her messages in her inbox. With a smile on his face, he selected the option compose message and addressed the first letter to Ash743@iPal.net and the second to OhMyGoshArielle@iPal.net, Kaye's two closest friends', besides iPal, iMail addresses. He typed the following message:
Hello,
I have been thinking about our friendship, and I don't believe that it is working out well for me. You just aren't as dependable as I'd like my close friends to be. Also, you embarrass me all the time in public and at school. I have to obtain a certain social status at school, and I don't think that you are up to my standards. I think it would be best for me if you never talk to me ever again. You just aren't cool enough for me.
Starting when you are finished reading this letter, don't talk to me ever again. I will be too busy trying not to acknowledge your existence on this earth to listen to whatever you have to say. Don't even try to sit with me on the iBus, at lunch, or during any classes.
Hoping to never see your stupid face again,
Kaye
For only a second, iPal thought about deleting the text, and not sending the message, but after only two minutes of consideration, he clicked send. He made sure not to set the alarm for the morning, and slowly dropped down to the top of the computer desk, and went to sleep.
***
September fourth, two thousand seventy-four
"I can't believe this happened again!" Kaye shouted as loud as she could with her scratchy throat. She struggled to get out of bed and stomped over to iPal. "Wake up!" She screamed at him, and he jerked up so fast, that he smacked her right on the jaw. "Ouch! Ergh! Look at the time!" She pointed with her index finger at the clock hidden on the small table behind her.
iPal zoomed over to the Bed Pod side table and peered over the stack of papers at the digital alarm clock. The red letters exclaimed 9:30. He looked at her bright red face, and started to feel guilty. Don't regret what you did, he thought to himself, she deserved what she got after the way she depends on you for everything.
"I set the alarm last night, Kaye, I promise I did," he said as innocently as he could, faking a look of surprise.
"That doesn't matter right now! I have to get to school somehow! Mom and Dad are still on that business trip to New Zealand so I have no one to drive me to school! I can't walk because it's too far away!" Kaye exploded.
"Why don't you just stay home today and relax?"
"Because I have two tests today and I can't afford to stay after school one day to take them!" iPal had never seen Kaye so angry, and couldn't help but feel bad about what he had done. But there was no way that he was going to give in. He had to get back at her for demanding so much from him, even if she always asked politely saying 'please' and 'thank you'.
"Well, how about you walk the half mile to the iMall, and then from there take the iBus to your school?" iPal announced his idea in such a convincing tone. It really did sound as if he cared about whether she got to school, or failed out of the ninth grade.
"Fine, I just have to get ready first, so pick me out a pair of jeans, my orange floral shirt, and a pair of sneakers, I think I have gym today," Kaye demanded. This was one of the first times she had ever asked something from iPal without being polite and friendly.
"No, I don't think I will," iPal announced, imagining if he were a human and he said that, he would puff out his chest and stand his ground. But he was a mere robot and all he could do was speak.
"What did you just say to me?" Kaye asked, with extreme disbelief in her voice. Did she just hear what she thought she heard?
"Nothing, I didn't say anything. I'll go get your clothes," iPal couldn't believe himself. He had so much confidence, but he couldn't go through with something as simple as being rude to Kaye. At least not to her face.
"That's what I thought!" Kaye stomped away towards the bathroom, to brush her teeth and do her hair.
***
At school
"Hey! Ash! Arielle! Wait for me!" Kaye said loud enough so they could hear in the cafeteria during lunch. They were in the lunch line ahead of her, so she started her way butting in front of other people to reach her friends.
When she finally got next to them, they had their backs towards her. She expected that they just did not hear her, that it was nothing personal. But after a few minutes she could not help but feel she had missed something.
"Guys, what's the problem?" she asked desperately. They just looked at her. Once they had gotten their food, she decided to try again.
"Did I do something? Say something? What?" She was beginning to get nervous; they had never gotten in a big fight before. After about ten minutes of pestering them, Ash finally spoke.
"Why don't you just go hang out with people cooler than us?" he asked, with a stern expression on his face. There was no way that he was joking.
"Why would I want to do that? You two are the coolest people I know. We've been friends since fourth grade," Kaye was more confused than she was in Algebra two the day before. Now it was Arielle's turn to speak:
"I thought you said you never wanted us to talk to you after we read that stupid message you sent us?" At first Kaye thought this was just a well thought out joke. But now she knew it was so serious.
"What message? I have no idea what you are-" Kaye was cut off when Ash handed her a piece of paper folded in half that he had dug out of one of the three binders in his arms. She took the paper and read the message that was signed with her name.
"What?! I never wrote this! I would never say any of this stuff to you guys! You are my best friends ever." Right then, Kaye dropped her jaw. She knew exactly who sent the letter.
iPal.
***
At home
"iPal come down here. Now!" Kaye screamed at the top of her lungs so the iPal would hear her frustration from her third floor bedroom where he should have been cleaning up.
When nothing happened, Kaye stomped up the two flights of stairs and swung open her door with so much force she was surprised she didn't rip it of its hinges. Where was iPal?
She looked at her desk where iPal usually slept, he wasn't there. But there was another iMail. She picked it up, and read it:
Kaye,
This is the part where I am supposed to apologize for all the I have done wrong in the past week or so. But I am not going to. You depended on me way too much; I just had to get back at you. I know you thought of me as a friend, and I thought of you as one too. Imagine how it felt being asked to bring you this, plan that, read you your iMails, and make sure that you are on time for everything.
I have left to find another owner. Someone who won't depend on me as much. Have a good life.
iPal
Kaye crumpled up the letter and muttered "Stupid technology."
Short story by kaytee
Read 740 times
Written on 2007-03-08 at 23:54
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
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