He drove the car hastily towards Casey's office. The rain was falling almost perilously, and John was already an hour late. He knew that Casey would be brimming of anger, she was waiting at the bus-stop. As soon as he got there, his face was overtaken by a troubling guilt seeing his wife shivering and all drenched in the ice-cold rain. He honked the horn, and waved his hand out the window, beckoning her towards the car.
She reluctantly came inside, and out of the ambush of the rain.
"Sorry I'm late..I had no idea I would be stuck in a meeting so long" he pleaded asking for mercy from his angry wife.
"You're such a terrible husband! How can you leave me waiting for so long... I was worried"
The screaming back and forth soon faded away into the darkness of the night, as John and Casey reached home. Casey ran upstairs and curled her body behind the room door. John knocked incessantly from outside the locked room, his apologies from before still echoing in the solemn air of the cold house. But the echoes evaded the room, and soon all that could be heard were the silent whimpers of his wife, curled up on the ground.
"How many times should I say sorry Casey? You know it wasn't intentional...can't you just get over it...you women are so hard to deal with..I wish you could be controlled with some remote" the words escaped the gates of John's lips and set off a destructive bomb in the mind of Casey. She screamed out loud, cursing him.
John, after a long while of apologizing and begging for his wife to overcome what had already happened, slid away into the empty living room. Why don't they ever understand he thought to himself. Feeling a great deal of frustration, but at the same time grief, a deep sleep overcame John.
-------
When he opened his eyes the next morning, he found the room to be full of a beautifully radiating light. He looked around, in search of Casey, but she was nowhere to be seen. John sighed, and came to the conclusion that Casey had strolled off somewhere in the morning, still upset about the previous night's incidence.
When he walked out of the door to catch some fresh hair, he noticed something quite unusual. Robot? He thought, since when where they so existent in the everyday world. John saw his lazy, plump neighbour sitting on his patio, not by himself, but with a women made of metal.. This crazy man has gotten crazier, John thought to himself.
He quickly scuttled over to the fat neighbour's to interrogate the piece of metal that captured all of his attention.
"Eric, what's that metal robot thing you've got....what new toy is it"..
"It's my wife, Marley... I say you should get married now, how long are you going to be alone. Men of 2120 don't tend to stay alone long..and you are quite abundant in your wealth too, why not buy yourself a wife?
John was a little confused, but was forcibly directed to rush over to the bride shop to buy himself a wife. As he walked into the store of brides, he scanned the room and looked at a few of the new models the store had. Yet his eyes specifically fell on the one that almost entirely resembled his wife, Casey.
"This is Model CASSE-12," a sales person exclaimed.
John stared in awe at the metal pieces that made up his wife... He quickly picked up one of the boxes of this model of bride, and rushed over to the check-out counter.
"I'd like to buy her please," and with that being said the cashier passed over the transaction machine to John who quickly paid his dues, and spoke his vows. Before leaving the store, John decided to ask a question to the cashier. "So ummmm..where did all the women in the world go?"
"Haha what century are you from Mister? They left years ago..anyways.. have a good day sir!"
John still flummoxed made way home with his new robot wife. As he stepped into the door, he pulled in the box with him and started stabbing it with scissors. He pulled open the box and rummaged through the inside.. pulling out an instruction manual. He quickly read through it. Next he pulled out a remote control, adorned with an on/off, volume, and several other buttons. Lastly John assembled his new wife together, and turned her on.
"H-u-llow" the robot said monotonously.
For the next few days John enjoyed his time abundantly with his wife. She never spoke back, never got angry or upset, always did whatever he asked, John was utterly ecstatic with this. John came home from work whenever he wished, and there sat CASSE-12, almost as if she was eagerly waiting for him. Although John did understand that she could not feel such emotions, unlike his real wife Casey. It was relieving, but at the same time disheartening.
Then one night on his way home from his office, John remembered he had instructed his robot-wife, CASSE-12, to wait for him outside by the bank, where she had gone to handle some of his financial work. This reminded him of that night Casey had to wait over an hour in the pouring rain. He chuckled to himself, surely this time his wife would not be upset with him.
When he got there however, his robot-wife seemed beyond upset. In fact she was lying lifelessly, without ever having a life, on the rainy pavements. She had malfunctioned with all the rain that had entered her electronic mind, and could not think to disobey waiting outside. John simply stared at her...Oh great.
.........
The next morning, John opened his eyes to a more beautiful sight, Casey. She sat before him with a face full of life. It was quite obvious to John that all that unfolded for him in the past few days was merely a dream.. or probably more apt of being called a nightmare. He embraced his wife, apologized, and just hoped that he would never encounter a woman made of metal again... He bid farewell to his remote-control bride.
She reluctantly came inside, and out of the ambush of the rain.
"Sorry I'm late..I had no idea I would be stuck in a meeting so long" he pleaded asking for mercy from his angry wife.
"You're such a terrible husband! How can you leave me waiting for so long... I was worried"
The screaming back and forth soon faded away into the darkness of the night, as John and Casey reached home. Casey ran upstairs and curled her body behind the room door. John knocked incessantly from outside the locked room, his apologies from before still echoing in the solemn air of the cold house. But the echoes evaded the room, and soon all that could be heard were the silent whimpers of his wife, curled up on the ground.
"How many times should I say sorry Casey? You know it wasn't intentional...can't you just get over it...you women are so hard to deal with..I wish you could be controlled with some remote" the words escaped the gates of John's lips and set off a destructive bomb in the mind of Casey. She screamed out loud, cursing him.
John, after a long while of apologizing and begging for his wife to overcome what had already happened, slid away into the empty living room. Why don't they ever understand he thought to himself. Feeling a great deal of frustration, but at the same time grief, a deep sleep overcame John.
-------
When he opened his eyes the next morning, he found the room to be full of a beautifully radiating light. He looked around, in search of Casey, but she was nowhere to be seen. John sighed, and came to the conclusion that Casey had strolled off somewhere in the morning, still upset about the previous night's incidence.
When he walked out of the door to catch some fresh hair, he noticed something quite unusual. Robot? He thought, since when where they so existent in the everyday world. John saw his lazy, plump neighbour sitting on his patio, not by himself, but with a women made of metal.. This crazy man has gotten crazier, John thought to himself.
He quickly scuttled over to the fat neighbour's to interrogate the piece of metal that captured all of his attention.
"Eric, what's that metal robot thing you've got....what new toy is it"..
"It's my wife, Marley... I say you should get married now, how long are you going to be alone. Men of 2120 don't tend to stay alone long..and you are quite abundant in your wealth too, why not buy yourself a wife?
John was a little confused, but was forcibly directed to rush over to the bride shop to buy himself a wife. As he walked into the store of brides, he scanned the room and looked at a few of the new models the store had. Yet his eyes specifically fell on the one that almost entirely resembled his wife, Casey.
"This is Model CASSE-12," a sales person exclaimed.
John stared in awe at the metal pieces that made up his wife... He quickly picked up one of the boxes of this model of bride, and rushed over to the check-out counter.
"I'd like to buy her please," and with that being said the cashier passed over the transaction machine to John who quickly paid his dues, and spoke his vows. Before leaving the store, John decided to ask a question to the cashier. "So ummmm..where did all the women in the world go?"
"Haha what century are you from Mister? They left years ago..anyways.. have a good day sir!"
John still flummoxed made way home with his new robot wife. As he stepped into the door, he pulled in the box with him and started stabbing it with scissors. He pulled open the box and rummaged through the inside.. pulling out an instruction manual. He quickly read through it. Next he pulled out a remote control, adorned with an on/off, volume, and several other buttons. Lastly John assembled his new wife together, and turned her on.
"H-u-llow" the robot said monotonously.
For the next few days John enjoyed his time abundantly with his wife. She never spoke back, never got angry or upset, always did whatever he asked, John was utterly ecstatic with this. John came home from work whenever he wished, and there sat CASSE-12, almost as if she was eagerly waiting for him. Although John did understand that she could not feel such emotions, unlike his real wife Casey. It was relieving, but at the same time disheartening.
Then one night on his way home from his office, John remembered he had instructed his robot-wife, CASSE-12, to wait for him outside by the bank, where she had gone to handle some of his financial work. This reminded him of that night Casey had to wait over an hour in the pouring rain. He chuckled to himself, surely this time his wife would not be upset with him.
When he got there however, his robot-wife seemed beyond upset. In fact she was lying lifelessly, without ever having a life, on the rainy pavements. She had malfunctioned with all the rain that had entered her electronic mind, and could not think to disobey waiting outside. John simply stared at her...Oh great.
.........
The next morning, John opened his eyes to a more beautiful sight, Casey. She sat before him with a face full of life. It was quite obvious to John that all that unfolded for him in the past few days was merely a dream.. or probably more apt of being called a nightmare. He embraced his wife, apologized, and just hoped that he would never encounter a woman made of metal again... He bid farewell to his remote-control bride.
Written for Chuck Wendig's Flash Fiction Challenge: Roll For Your Title.
(P.S - this is my first attempt at writing a story for a prompt)
(P.S - this is my first attempt at writing a story for a prompt)
:) Yay *claps* nice short story! Reminds me of the movie Robot & Frank, except of course the context is different :)
ReplyDeleteNever heard of that movie :/ But thank you!
DeleteA very nice attempt. Sometimes people wish for things that they actually won't like. Interesting concept.
ReplyDeleteGreat fiction...
ReplyDeleteThanks Ether! :)
Delete