The Last Memory

By Sophie Hamm

Dedicated to my supporting, amazing, family.

Maple Leaf Writing Project

Brattleboro, VT

Copyright 2018

The young girl glances down at the medium-sized package, wrapped in light blue tissue paper. With a nod from her grandfather, she picks up the present. She rips off the tissue paper quickly, and her eyes widen as she looks down at what’s written on the white box inside: BBM2. The girl´s mother glances at her grandfather.

“Are you sure about this? I mean..”

¨Yes. Reed will love this.” He replies as he winks at Reed.

Reed continues to open the present. She reads a card that says Happy 7th birthday, reed! and opens the tab at the top of the box. Inside, is a small grey robot. Reed´s smile widens even more and she runs up to hug her grandfather.

¨This is the best present ever! Thanks so much Grandpa!¨

¨Of course, Reed! It was the last one ever made in my factory and it is all yours!

¨Yay!¨ Reed replies and runs back to the package and pulls out the robot. She turns the switch up on the pear shaped grey body. The light on the top of the head lights up, illuminating the living room with a reddish glow. Reed squeals with excitement. The robot continues to light up in various places and makes a noise that resembles a microwave heating up a plate of food. Reed places it on the floor and starts coming toward her, using the wheel on the bottom.

WELCOME TO THE BENSON BOT MODEL TWO ROBOT SETUP. PLEASE SAY THE NAME YOU WOULD WISH TO BE ADDRESSED BY.

¨Reed.¨ The girl responds.

THANK YOU, REED FOR BUYING THE BENSON BOT MODEL TWO, OR BBM2. AT YOUR SERVICE. Reed´s Grandfather smiles for the last time.

MISS REED, IT IS TIME TO MAKE BREAKFAST! ARE YOU AWAKE? PLEASE DO NOT MAKE ME USE MY EMERGENCY ALARM!

¨Yes, uh… One second, BBM.¨ I say groggily. Feeling cool air on my face, I open my eyes, realizing that I left my window open all night. I then smell the stench of tar and smoke, and sigh. I look down at BBM.

ALREADY 6:48, 3 MINUTES PAST THE TIME YOU SHOULD BE AWAKE. DO NOT MAKE ME USE MY-

¨I know, BBM! I´m getting up!” I say as I step cautiously out of bed. I look back at my stuffed tiger, Tummy, who looks very smug that he’s still under the warm covers.

I trace my fingers along the dark brown wood of the windowsill, the dust coming along with it. Before shutting the window, I glance out of it, looking at the grimey, dirty place I live in. I hear people yelling outside, arguing. I slam the window shut, brought back to reality.

¨Ok, BBM, let's get making breakfast.¨ I open the curtain that separates my bedroom from the rest of the apartment. I walk quietly to the small kitchen area, careful not to wake up my mother, who's sleeping on the futon. I open the wooden cupboard, and take a step back, almost landing on BBM.

WHAT IS FOR BREAKFAST, MISS REED? BBM asks.

¨Well, looks like it´s bread with...” I open up the small fridge. There isn’t much in there, but I do notice some small pieces of dried out cheese. I sigh. “...Cheese.”

On cue, my younger siblings come rushing out of their room, like mine, behind a curtain. Emilia, and Benjamin. Emilia, who is only 5, grabs onto my leg and holds on tight.

¨Hey, what's for breakfast?¨ Ben asks, as I bend down to pick up Emilia.

¨I WANT JAM!!¨ Emilia screams, right in my ear.

¨YEAH, JAM¨ Ben replies.

“We.. can’t afford any. How about some cheese?”

“GIMME JAM NOW!”

¨Be quiet! Mom is trying to sleep!¨ I say, putting Emilia down. I glance over at my mother, still sound asleep on the futon. She hardly does anything at all these days. Ever since my father left. Sometimes I just feel like I have to pick up everything around here. I used to think being in charge was fun. But when I have to get everyone ready for school, pack lunches, and do everything, I wish I wasn´t.

I am still reacting to the scream. I just hear ringing in my head. I want to do something before my siblings will scream again. As I lean forward to grab the bread, I can feel my toe stumbling on something poking out of the floorboards. I look down, seeing one of Ben´s toy cars with Emilia's little yarn doll riding in it. Before I can stable myself, I fall backward, and I land on something hard, and pointy. I hear it crack beneath my pressure.

¨Owww…...” I feel a piercing pain on my lower back.

I turn around to see what I fell on, and gasp.

¨BBM...¨

¨Oh… no no no no no!¨ I yell. I immediately stand up as fast as I can, to examine the damage. BBM´s small, grey body has a huge dent in it, where my backside had landed. I bend down to pick up a few screws and nails that went flying from the incident. Some of the small compartment doors have flown open, and BBM´s small eyes turn black, like they do when he shuts down.

I am reminded of my grandfather. Watching him smile as I opened that present, and having so much fun with it all day. I think about how my grandfather contentedly watched me. I thought he was awake the whole time. But he was just sitting there, already gone. He had died of the smoke. The smoke that had swept through the city, silently killing almost everyone, one by one. Including my older brother, John. We did not find out until later that night. My parents had been sitting in the kitchen, when I looked up from BBm and saw my grandpa. He was sitting there, his eyes shadowed over. I ran crying to my mother. From that moment, my mother never acted the same again. And my dad couldn't take it….. so he left. He left us, just like grandfather had.

The last memory of my Grandfather is gone. Forever.

¨No,¨ I say to myself. I daydream too much. Bad memories. ¨ I need to take care of the kids.¨

I point to my siblings. Emilia’s eyes are wide, and Ben’s mouth has dropped to the floor.¨Go get dressed.¨ Quickly, they rush off, behind the curtain. I usually must help them, but now I have no time.

I get to sweeping up the shattered glass and screws. Bolts, and pieces of plastic. I take one last look at BBM, and put him into the closet, with the broom. I will think about that later.

Just like every morning, I wake up my mother before we go. Just like every morning, I pack lunches. And just like every morning, I wish Emilia, Jasen, and Benjamin goodbye onto their small bus that takes them to GreyStone Elementary. But, unlike every morning, I do not run to catch the small, rickety bus that passes by my apartment at precisely 7:58 am. Instead, I lie in wait, like a cat watching its prey, waiting for my mother to leave.

Chapter 3

Finally, after an hour, my mother gets out of her bed, throws on a sweater, grabs the lunch I packed her, and walks out the front door, forgetting to lock it. I sigh. My mother never acts like an adult. I get up and lock the door.

I walk back over to the closet, and open it. Inside is BBM. I feel like crying. This is the last memory I have of my grandfather. All I can think of is that moment when I looked up from BBM to see my grandfather, unbreathing, in that chair. ¨I have to fix this.¨ I say aloud.

I grab the pieces of BBM, and climb onto my bed. I glance down at the pieces of my only friend. I know it may sound pitiful, but the only friend I had was a robot. Our family is pretty disgraced around town. My mother always argues with the food sellers, trying to lower the prices. She likes to randomly sing, and skip around. So everyone thinks our whole family is crazy.

I don't know much about engineering, but I know everything there is to know about this robot. I have read the manual over and over, and I open the drawer under my bed and take out the manual. Flipping to the back, I find exactly what I'm looking for. I then dig through the drawer again, and find a screwdriver. I pick up the remaining screws, and try to find where they will fit.

All of them fit, accept for one. There is no other place it could go. I search all over BBM. I can't find it anywhere. But, now that I look at it, this screw doesn't really look like a screw. It looks.. Almost like a key? Suddenly, I have remember something.

She glances at the casket, where her grandfather is laying inside. A picture on top of him, smiling and hugging her mother. Nothing had ever been the same since he passed away. She traces her fingers along the top of the casket. A small bit of brown wood is on the top of it. The exact shape of a notebook she had seen her grandfather writing in A hole in the top, with a star shaped key.

Reed looks at it. On the bottom, is says “To Reed.”

She grabs it.

She puts it in her pocket.

And runs to catch up with her mother, already on her way home.

¨Oh, where did I put it… where did I put it?¨ I ask myself. There is no way that I could have thrown it away..

I suddenly realize. I run into the kitchen, and quickly slam open the drawers, looking, searching, for the wooden box. Finally, my fingers stumble upon it. I lift it up, overjoyed. I rush back over to my bed and fiddle with the small screw-like key until it fits into the hole in the box. I slowly open it, taking a deep breath.

I can't believe this. Inside of the box is what I expected. A small journal, the size of a sandwich. I quickly open the journal, and a piece of paper falls out. At the top, it is titled ¨To Reed.¨

I scan over the letter, reading my grandfather's messy handwriting. It says:

Dear Reed,

If you have found this, then you are profoundly smart. And if you have found this, then I must have already passed. The robot granted to you was specially made, by me, myself, not just in my factory. It was made for you so that you can see the wonders of everything. I know it may sound crazy, but this robot is capable of much more than the normal ones are used for. I had to wait for you to be older for you to understand. It can project stars, and show you your dreams. Enjoy it.

You could have only found this if BBM breaks, your special robot would have released the key to make the robot more advanced. I want this to be everything to you, just as you were everything to me.

Sincerely,

Your grandfather.

Taped at the bottom of the letter is a circuit board. It says to press it into BBM, in case of emergency.

¨Oh, that's what that hole was for.¨ I say.

I press the circuit board into BBM. He makes a beep and I smile.

¨WELCOME BACK MISS.REED¨ He says.

I press a red button, I had assumed before meant nothing. Now BBM makes a whirring sound, projecting the stars, in rainbow colors all over the ceiling.

My grandfather is back. I can imagine him smiling at me.

¨Beautiful.¨