Stories for Children / The Robot

Cara met the robot at the airport.

She was with her parents. They had been on holiday. Now they were flying back home, to London.

Cara was looking out of the window when she met it. She loved airport windows. There was so much to see. Planes moving, cargo being loaded... everyone was so busy.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something moving. When she turned, she saw a robot.

Its base looked like a vacuum cleaner: grey plastic, oval shaped, with two black wheels. There was a green light on the top, to show it was working.

Coming out of the top were two flat metal poles. At the top of these poles there was a screen - like a tablet but bigger.

The robot was moving all by itself. It wasn t like a remote-controlled car or a drone. Nobody was controlling it. Cara was amazed.

The robot glided towards her. Its wheels made no sound on the carpet. She couldn t hear any motor. It was totally silent.

Cara found that spooky. She wanted a machine to sound like a machine. This one didn t.

The robot kept coming. It was fast, and its green light was flashing. Would it run her over? Should she move out of the way? But the robot sensed she was there. It stopped, right in front of her. It was taller than she was.