The sky was grey.
Not only the clouds but the entire sky was gray when I looked up. Extended qaves of clouds were strewn across the ominous sky as if reflecting the sea under it.
Tenacious waves hit the shore over and over again, but they always recede back to where they came from. As they crashed into the light grayish sand, M’s legs were partially submerged in the black colored water. When they did fall back, M’s legs were exposed again. The metallic plates on her left were visible to me and I could see the reflection of the invading waves off her.
It started to rain. Despite falling from a gray sky, the rain was colorless. I was standing in the sheltered area a distance away from the shoreline but I could see raindrops trickling down every plate on M’s body.
As the rain increases its intensity, I had a thought formed in my head – Are they going to overflow? By then, an alarm was ringing in me. Nothing like a fire alarm that pierces the ears nor was it like the perturbing ambulance siren. The warning was a silent one, simply sending waves of tension and stiffness from my head to the end of my toes. At that moment, my rigid body felt the opposite of the waves from the black colored sea. They were like rubber bands, stretching forward to the shore and soon springing backwards to the sea.
I thought I had to call her back. Even if she wouldn’t die, she is still a precious companion. After a bit of hesitation, I took the remote control from G, the small one, who was standing by my side. I switched the thing on and started fiddling with the controls that were supposed to move M. She did not budge despite my attempts. Perhaps the rain is affecting the signal, I thought.
Instinctively, I walked a little closer towards M. The front part of my hair was in the rain now. As I continued to fiddle the remote control, M unexpectedly rotated left. I tried the same combination of twisting the joystick and M’s left leg took a step forward. My heartbeats could be heard by now. I did not know if it was perspiration or the rain, but a large amount of liquid was dribbling down my face. As I randomly turned the joystick in various directions, M was slowly advancing towards the shelter.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light. Not knowing if it was lightning or a warning light, I increased the force that I was using on the remote control. Getting anxious…
… … …
There was a second flash of light and I blinked. When I opened my eyes, the remote was no longer in my hands. Looking to my right, I was expecting to see G standing there, holding the remote control but he was not there.
In front of my eyes, moving by the set of rollers that I installed for him, G was swiftly moving on the sand. In his mechanical arms, he was moving the joy stick of the remote control. Maybe it was the distance but M started moving smoothly towards me. Trailing behind her was G, much smaller in size but steadily controlling M with the remote as she strode towards me.
When she was finally out of the water (the shore line had moved up), M looked back at G who still had half of his body in the black colored water. He had since raised the remote control above his head. Smart G! I praised him silently.
The water level was still increasing. By the time M had conquered half the way, G was nowhere to be seen. I took a step forward into the rain to get a better view. However, the rain had turned into a storm by now – visibility was low and the water level was increasing at an incredible speed. M noticed my move and looked back.
I felt extremely horrified at what I was witnessing – a train was gliding through the shallow water from my left heading towards the right side.
Where is G?
M had stopped moving when I ran past him towards the sea. The train was still moving along the shoreline when I finally stopped at a safe distance away from it.
Drenched by the rain and the splashing water from the black colored sea, I turned to face the motionless M.
and everything faded away…
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