Joey’s Crappy Day

“John, they found another one,” said Mary in a concerned voice as she entered the barn. She found her husband working at his computer, making some final programming changes for the upcoming harvest no doubt.

“Found what?” asked John reviewing his work on the computer screen.

“Another one of those humanoid robots,” said Mary wringing her hands.

“Aren’t all robots humanoid?” asked John as he made some corrections on the screen.

“I’m being serious John.”

John looked at Mary over his glasses, the glow of the computer screen giving his face a blue tone. “What can I do about it?” asked John as he took off his glasses and placed them on his desk.

“I don’t know, but this one was the Sheriff in Baxter County. The Sheriff! And not two counties away. I know his wife! I bet she’s heartbroken.”

John looked at her quizzically, “You don’t think she knew?”

Mary looked at the ground and made patterns in the carpet with her toe. She looked like some schoolgirl after her first kiss. She shook her head keeping her eyes fixed on the ground.

John stood up, “What’s this all about?”

Mary stood there in her schoolgirl silence.

John took hold of Mary’s shoulders, “What’s wrong honey? Tell me what’s the matter.”

“I’m scared!” cried Mary.

“Of what?” asked John. “Robots can’t hurt people, you know that.”

Mary just stood there in his grasp, tears streaming from her eyes.

John hugged her and said, “Everything will turn out for the best in the end. You’ll see.”

Eventually, everything did turn out alright.