D-39: A Robodog's Journey

D-39: A Robodog's Journey — page 3

D-39: A Robodog's Journey — page 4 — Hey Hi Ho There It’s me Klynt Tovis coming to you live from a l ooganut farm in the Worselands I click the button on the ham ears alert for a reply I’m not supposed to talk to strangers even on an old ham radio especially now that even low-power unlicensed broadcasts are against the law But now that I’ve unburied myself from the heap of wires and metal parts in my room and now that I’ve finally gotten a signal how can I not try it Besides does it really count if no one is around to listen 6

D-39: A Robodog's Journey — page 5 — Listen If you are alive and haven’t left for greener prairies and if anyone is listening here’s the latest It’s another hotseason day of me feeling like I’m going to drown in the hum-nothing that is the Worselands No sound for miles except flickering stream screen static and the low rumble of Papa’s chug-chug churning the dirt patchwork All morning I’ve been working on the ham because that’s what restoration experts do maintain our collections This ham now joins ranks with a rotary dial telephone complete with cord an old typewriter and a printing press Yes each and every one actually works Hear that Mama You’re not the only one making a difference in the world Come home and I’ll show you my Museum of Fond Memories You won’t be sorry I promise 7

D-39: A Robodog's Journey — page 6 — Promise Over and out I say and click off the ham It’d be so much more satisfying if someone actually answered But for now all I can do is keep hoping and tinkering And then at the noon ticktock strike when Papa promised he would come in from the fields but of course he doesn’t because nothing matters more than pro ducing a l ucrative crop of looganuts I hear a bzz-squeal-thump And it isn’t the old cockadoodle weather vane chasing a blusterblow No The air is completely still Bzzz-squeal-thump-THUMP Not weather Not human Unmistakably robo 8

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