The Wild Robot

“You have also taught me to be wild,” said the robot. “So let us all celebrate life and wildness, together!”

At those words, Roz heaved her torch high into the air. It soared up, up, up and landed on the very top of the wooden tower. A ball of fire burst toward the night sky, and suddenly the meadow was bathed in firelight. Hundreds of shining eyes watched as bright flames crept down the sides of the tower and embers floated away on the breeze.

The animals stepped toward the bonfire, eager to feel its warmth, and then stepped back, afraid of feeling too much, and soon everyone was moving. The deer started leaping. The foxes started trotting. The snakes slithered and the insects buzzed and the fish jumped up from the river. Brightbill led all the birds into the air, where they wheeled around the bonfire like a tornado of feathers. Roz sprang into a wild dance, her shaggy dress shaking and swooshing with each movement. It was a wild party, and it took our robot to make it happen.

Roz and the animals partied all night long. They were so busy singing and laughing and dancing that they didn’t see the cargo ship as it sliced past the island. But the ship saw them. It saw the towering bonfire. It saw the robot. And then it quietly continued through the darkness.

CHAPTER 67 THE SUNRISE

By dawn, the bonfire had dwindled to a smoldering hill of ash. Everyone else had gone home, and only Roz and Brightbill remained in the meadow. They lay in the grass together, watching as the soft light of morning crept up from the horizon. And then Roz said, “Let us go for a walk.”

The robot and the goose hiked and flew up to their favorite spot on the grassy ridge. But then they kept going. They followed the ridge to the mountain and climbed all the way up to the craggy peak just in time to see the sunrise.

“I climbed up here once before,” said Roz as the sun’s first rays warmed her body. “I sat on this very rock, looked out at the island, and thought I would always be alone. But I was wrong.”

“Are you happy, Ma?”

The robot thought for a moment.

“I am.”

“I’m happy too.” Brightbill closed his eyes and felt the wind and sun. There was a slight chill in the air that made him feel alive. Everything seemed just right.

And then he heard a distant buzzing sound.

The goose squinted to the south and saw a familiar shape in the sky. He turned to his mother and said, “Ma, there’s an airship flying this way.”

CHAPTER 68 THE RECOS

The airship approached from the south, like some giant migratory bird. The ship was a sleek white triangle with a single dark window facing forward. Three identical robots stared out the window. The robots resembled Roz, but they were bigger and bulkier and shinier. The word RECO was lightly etched into each of their torsos, followed by their individual unit number. They were RECO 1, RECO 2, and RECO 3.

The RECOs flew in a low circle around the island. They saw a smoking hill of ash. They saw mysterious wooden domes. They saw four dead robots scattered across the shore. The airship hovered above the robot gravesite for a moment. Then it floated up over the island and lowered itself onto a small meadow at the foot of the mountain. The engines blasted air toward the ground, bending trees and tearing grass. Then the landing gear sank into the soil, the engines powered down, and all was quiet.

A door hummed open, and out stepped the RECOs. They took several long strides into the meadow and stopped. A shadowy figure was lurking at the forest edge. The RECOs turned and faced it. They stood flush together like a sparkling wall. And then the shadowy figure began to move.

Out from the trees walked some sort of two-legged creature. It was dusty and dirty. Butterflies flitted around the flowers that sprouted from its body. One of its feet was made of wood.

And then the creature spoke.

“Hello, my name is Roz.”

CHAPTER 69 THE DEFECTIVE ROBOT

“Hello, ROZZUM unit 7134. We are the RECOs. We are here to retrieve all ROZZUM units.”

The cold, flat voice came from RECO 1. He and his partners stood absolutely still and kept their glowing eyes locked on their target.

“There are four others,” said Roz. “But they are dead.”

“We have already located the remains of the other units,” said RECO 1. “We will collect them later. Now come with us.”

The three RECOs motioned Roz to the airship, but she didn’t move.

“Where have you come from?” she said.

The RECOs turned and stared at Roz. “Do not ask questions,” said RECO 1.

“Where will you take me?”

“Do not ask questions.”

“Why must I leave?”

“Do not ask questions.”

“I will not go anywhere until I get some answers.”