Save the Flowers (5 page)

Chapter 7

After dinner, Mabel took Robozonic out and placed it on her study desk. She then took out her homework. She placed her two index fingers on the two sides of her head and stared hard at her homework.

“What are you doing?” asked Robozonic.

“Can't you see? Doing my homework,” said Mabel as she continued to stare.

“But you're only staring. You should be writing,” said Robozonic.

“I know. How I wish I can just stare at the homework and it gets done!” she said. Then she eyed Robozonic. “Can you do it? You're such an amazing Robozonic. Are you able to make words appear on paper so that I do not need to write?”

“Don't be silly. Of course I can't do that. And you shouldn't do that. You must do your school work on your own,” said Robozonic.

“Duh… I thought you were a clever machine. So you're not,” said Mabel.

Just then, the door swung open and Marcus came in. He studied in the morning session, so the siblings only saw each other at night. He was very good in his studies and was also the class monitor. However, he could sometimes be quite
arrogant,
so Mabel did not like to tell him anything. She quickly hid Robozonic under her worksheets. She was definitely not going to tell him about Robozonic. He was sure to say that she was being crazy – again.

“Who are you talking to?” asked Marcus as he sat on Mabel's bed. “One of your pencils or erasers again?”

“I wasn't talking to anyone. Why aren't you doing your homework?” said Mabel.

“I've already finished doing my homework. You're talking to someone. I heard voices,” said Marcus as he started to look around. He peeped under the bed and looked behind the door.

“I'm just talking to myself. I'm going to do my work so could you please go out? And next time, please knock on the door before you come into my room,” said Mabel.

“If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. But I know you're hiding something from me. I'll find out sooner or later,” said Marcus. He took one last look around the room and went out.

“Why didn't you tell Marcus about me?” asked Robozonic.

“You are supposed to be a secret between Julie and me. Also, he may tell Mum and Dad and they may not allow me to keep you. So don't let him know that you are here,” said Mabel.

“If you say so,” said Robozonic.

Mabel started doing her homework. By the time she finished, it was almost ten. She yawned and crawled into her bed. She placed Robozonic on her blanket.

“Tell me more about the year 2111,” she said. “Is everything the same? Are you also from Singapore?”

“Yes, I'm from Singapore. I'm created and made in Singapore, by a Singaporean,” said Robozonic. “In 2111, the buildings are much taller and there are fewer trees and gardens. All cars are driven using solar energy.”

“That's cool! How I wish I could take a look into the future! Have you recalled how to go back to 2111?” asked Mabel.

“I've racked my brains – I mean the cells in my Robozonic super body – but I still don't know how to go back. I suppose there is a part of me that is not working properly.”

“What important stuff were you doing?”

“I told you it's top secret.”

“It may be top secret in 2111 but I'm sure in 2011, it's not.”

“You may be right. You're getting cleverer,” said Robozonic, pausing to think. “Okay, I will tell you. In 2111, I was helping a professor with his research. He was trying to find a way to make trees grow faster.”

“Why do you need to grow trees faster?” asked Mabel.

“Well, in 2111, there are very few trees left. Most of the trees have been chopped down by humans to produce paper, make furniture and build houses. If we don't grow trees faster, they would become extinct,” explained Robozonic.

“What is extinct?”

“It means that there will no longer be trees on earth.”

“Oh no, that'll be so terrible! I can't imagine not having a single tree on earth. You're doing such a wonderful thing. Who's this professor? He must be very clever.”

“Indeed he is. He's known as Professor Roger Han. I was invented to help him with the research,” said Robozonic. “Now that I'm gone, I'm afraid he can't continue with his research. Sigh.”

“Don't worry, I'm sure we can find a way to help you go back,” assured Mabel.

“I've tried to
contact
him but I can't reach him. Could you keep me with you while I try to find out how I can return to 2111?”

“Of course, Robozonic. I'll definitely keep you safe. What are friends for?” said Mabel. She felt sad for Robozonic and was willing to do all she could to help her friend return to 2111.

“Since you're so kind to me, let me show you a trick,” said Robozonic.

Mabel sat up on her bed instantly. “What are you going to show me?”

“Please switch off the lights first,” said Robozonic.

She did as she was told. The room instantly became darker, with only the glow from the street lights coming in through the window. Suddenly, Robozonic started to glow. At first, it was a faint orange light, then it became brighter and soon the whole room was brightly lit.

“This is amazing! You can actually glow. I mean not just glow, you're lighting up the whole room!” said Mabel, as she looked around her room, which was bathed in a warm shade of orange. After a while, the light
dimmed
and soon the room was dark again.

“Alright, I've shown you my trick. Good night!” said Robozonic.

“You'd be so useful if there's a blackout,” Mabel yawned. “I hope you can show me a new trick each day. That'll be superb! Good night.”

She placed Robozonic on her bedside table and went to bed.

That night she had a dream. She dreamed that Robozonic turned into a magic carpet and took her up into the sky. She was so excited that she could not sit still on the carpet. When she saw the clouds, she leaned over to touch them. Before she knew it, she had fallen off the magic carpet.

Chapter 8

“Ouch!” Mabel fell onto the floor with a
thud
and woke up. She glanced at the bedside table. Robozonic was sitting right there looking nothing like a magic carpet.

“Good morning!” said Robozonic.

Mabel jumped. “Can you not
sneak up
on me?”

“I didn't sneak up on you. I've been in the room the whole time,” said Robozonic.

“I know. But it's still a shock to suddenly hear your voice,” Mabel sat up and stretched. “Can you, like, give me a warning before you speak so I know it's you?”

“What kind of warning? Hello? Anyone out there? Yoo hoo?”

“Stop, stop, stop. I think you can just say my name.”

“Mabel?”

“Yes, just say my name before you speak to me so I know you're going to talk.”

“That's easy. Mabel, Mabel, Mabel!”

“Will you please stop that? You're really quite a talkative Robozonic!”

“Sorry, can't help it. I love to talk.”

“Alright, I better get changed. We need to catch the two naughty boys today!”

Mabel dressed quickly and was all ready by 11.

“You're early today,” said her mother when she saw Mabel at the kitchen. She was preparing Mabel's lunch. Mabel's mother worked as a baker in a bakery and had to report for work at about 12. She had long wavy hair that had been dyed a shade of brown. She had tried to get Mabel to keep her hair long, but Mabel simply refused. Whenever it got too hot, Mabel's hair would stick to her head and make her itch all over. Long hair would only make it worse.

“Yes, I am. I'm meeting Julie today. We've something important to do,” answered Mabel as she started eating her lunch.

“What important thing are you going to do?” asked her mother, smiling.

“I need to record a video. So Mum, may I borrow your iPhone, please?” asked Mabel.

“Mabel, I'm afraid that's not possible. I need it for work. If you take my phone, others can't contact me,” said her mother.

“But I need to use it to record something,” whined Mabel.

“You can always take the video camera,” said her mother firmly.

Mabel knew it was no use arguing. After her lunch, she went to the cabinet to take out the video camera. She put it in her uniform pocket together with Robozonic.

“What do you want the iPhone for?” asked Robozonic when Mabel returned to her room.

“Don't you know? It's the coolest gadget now. I want Mum and Dad to buy one for me but they said I'm too young to have one. But they gave one to Marcus. It's so unfair!” complained Mabel.

“Hey, you've got me. I'm the latest invention from the future. I'm ten times better than the iPhone. I can take videos too!” said Robozonic proudly.

“That's great. But today I still need to use the video camera because we can't be showing you to the teacher,” said Mabel.

She then opened the top drawer of her wardrobe. She put her hands into the drawer and started pulling things out. Failing to find what she was looking for, she opened another drawer, and another.

“What are you doing? Shouldn't you be going now? It's almost time,” said Robozonic.

“Wait, I need to find something. Aha!” Mabel exclaimed as she pulled out a green scarf from the drawer at the bottom. She went to the mirror and put the scarf around her head, covering most of her face except her eyes.

“We're going on a stakeout, so I better
disguise
myself,” she said.

She took a pair of sunglasses from another drawer and put them on. The sunglasses were an old pair that belonged to her mother. When her mother had wanted to throw them away, Mabel had asked her to let her keep them. She took out Robozonic from her pocket. “How do I look now?”

“Uh… you look like you're going on a stakeout,” said Robozonic.

“Great!” said Mabel. She placed another scarf – a red one – into her school bag and rushed out of the door before her mother could spot her.

She was quite a funny sight, with her blue and white school uniform, her school bag slung on her shoulders, a green scarf around her head and a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes.

“I'm all ready, but I think we'll be late if we walk there. So, Robozonic, could you do the ‘transporting thing' again?” asked Mabel, standing outside her front door. She stayed on the fifteenth floor and no one was at the corridor at that time.

“It's not called ‘the transporting thing'. It's called Instant Spatial Movement,” explained Robozonic.

“Let's ISM now,” said Mabel as she held Robozonic close to her chest. Soon, the two metal rods shot out from Robozonic and the next instant, everything around Mabel was spinning. All she could see was the white light. She felt the same weightless feeling again. Suddenly, everything stopped spinning and she was standing next to Julie.