Once upon a time, there was a small village
named Markdale, with several small stores on its main street. Each day, a charming nine year old lad named Edward would walk down the cobblestone streets. As he passed the storeowners, he would say “Hello” to them and they would say “Hello” back . Edward loved nature and would often walk past the village into the nearby forest to enjoy the morning air.
During his daily walks, Edward often sat and daydreamed under a favourite oak tree and fell asleep. One particular day, he awoke to see a blur of gold. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, only to see a strange metallic man hovering over him. Frightened, Edward ran toward the tiny Markdale house where he lived alone with his mother, but looked back to see an oily tear in the stranger’s lug-nut eye.
Well, when Edward told his mother about seeing a crying metallic man, do you think she believed him? Having heard Edward’s many tall tales, she laughed and told him to finish breakfast. Upset, Edward ran behind the schoolhouse and wept. Just then, the sad metallic man appeared again, moving his mouth as if trying to speak. The more he tried, the sadder he became.
Edward asked sympathetically, “What is wrong, Metal Man?”, which only seemed to upset the man more. Sadly, the man walked toward the bush, but seemed to smile back at Edward as he disappeared. Edward ran back to Markdale, screaming about seeing a crying metal man. The storeowners, having heard Edward’s many tall tales, didn’t pay any attention.
Edward’s mother brought him home, made him dinner and sent him to bed. Upset about it all, Edward finally fell asleep. In a dream, the metal man came to him again, trying to speak and looking even sadder. Each time Edward reached out, an ocean of oily tears would carry the metal man away. His shiny arms and legs would thrash to reach Edward, who thought he was really hearing the creak of metal joints. Just then, Edward awoke to see the sad metal man hover over his bed, trying to speak. Edward said “Hello” and the man got sadder when he couldn’t say “Hello” back.
Just then, Edward snapped his fingers. He realized the metal man was sad was because he couldn’t speak. “Please stay here,” said Edward as he left to get the village doctor. The doctor examined the man and found he had no voice box. Edward felt bad, so he named him “Rolly”, after his late father. Suddenly, Edward had an idea. The villagers of Markdale could put all their skills together to build Rolly a voice box. They did and one special day, the town came together, as Rolly spoke. They cheered when he said “Thank you”, but became very sad when they found out he was leaving Markdale for his home far, far away.
“I am sorry I must leave now, Edward”, said Rolly, “I have learned so much about love from all of you.” He dabbed another oily tear from his lugnut eye. “Because you believed in me, I now have a voice,” Rolly continued. “A gift I will use to help others.” Edward welled up with tears, as he said, “Farewell, Rolly!” Then, Rolly the Robot waved happily as he left to his far-off home, gleaming in the sunset, with his brand new voice.
The End