ROBOT JESUS

Susan Sommerstone

Susan Sommerstone didn't like Jesus, she loved him.

To her, Jesus wasn't just billboard-big, he was larger than the solar system, including the sun.

How amazing was it then that she carried such a larger than life figure around with her, in her heart? Simply amazing.

She braked for a red light at the intersection of Brown St. and Michigan Ave. in Jackson, Michigan, the city where she was born and raised, stopping well shy of the pedestrian crosswalk because that is what Jesus would do.

She had mounted a Jesus figurine to the dashboard of her 2006 Dodge Dart, to keep her safe.

Today was a special day.

While Jesus was most certainly born on December 25, Jesus A.I.–that's A. for artificial and I. for Intelligence–went on sale the day after Thanksgiving.

The irony was not lost on Susan that Jesus' second coming was to happen on the day known as Black Friday, but she wasn't about to miss it, no matter what day they decided to start selling him and no matter what Father Fritz, the priest at her church, had to say about it.

She also wasn't extremely bothered that Robot Jesus, as most people were calling it, was manufactured in China–Godless people though they are.

Susan didn't "give a lick" because she knew, He would soon be with her.

While she had spent the better part of her life as a grocery clerk at Polly's supermarket, she had also come into some money when her Great Aunt Betsy passed, so she could afford to buy the first model on the very first day.

Problem was, there seemed to be a lot of people walking in the crosswalk.

What if they were all headed to the Westwood Mall to buy their own Robot Jesus?

What if she got there and they were all sold out.

This was personal.

As the last of the pedestrians cleared her lane, Susan hit the gas.

"Hey lady!" one of the pedestrians shouted, pointing to the red light.