Portal: Love as a Construct

Part Thirty-Five. The Littlest Mermaid

Part Thirty-Five.  The Littlest Mermaid

“Momma Momma Momma I just had the best idea ever!”

Momma looks up at me.  I think she’s programmin’ again.  I want to learn to do that too so I can do it with her one day, but she said I ain’t ready.  “I thought you had the best idea ever yesterday.”

“That was only ‘cause I didn’t have this one yet,” I say to her, and I come closer and look at her screen.  “What’re you doin’?”

“Writing you an update.”

“Yaaay!”  I love updates!  Cool stuff happens when I get them!  “What’s this one gonna do?”

“That’s a surprise.”

“Momma!”  She’s always surprisin’ me.

“I thought you were in here to tell me your idea, not try to convince me to tell you what’s in your update.  Which I’m not going to do, by the way.  So you can stop asking.”

“Oh yeah!”  I jump up and down a little, ‘cause I really like this idea, an’ I hope Momma’s not too busy so I can do it.  “Know how I can read now?”

“I do recall teaching you that, yes.”

“Well, Daddy found me this thing, an’ he calls it a book!  An’ guess what?”

“Please don’t actually make me guess.”

“It’s got words in it!” I yell, real excited.

“Books usually do,” Momma says, and she doesn’t sound very impressed for some reason.

“Can I read it to you, Momma?”

Momma looks over at me and does a stare at me.  “You want to read your book to me.”

“Are ya busy?” I ask, worried that she doesn’t like my idea.

“Well… let me see it.  For all I know, he’s found you a construction manual.”

I bring my book out of the ceilin’ where all the arms come in here from, and she looks at it for a minute.  “All right,” she says.  “I have to say I don’t like the title, but you can go ahead.”

“Yay!”  I look down at the floor and say in my head real loud, Hi panels!

Hello, Littlecore, they say back, and they sound real happy.  No matter how much I tell ‘em to call me Caroline, or Carrie if they want, they always call me Littlecore anyways.  I dunno why.  Daddy says they call him Bluecore and Momma Centralcore, and he doesn’t know why they don’t wanna use our names.  I ‘specially dunno why they call Momma Centralcore, since that’s got nothin’ to do with the colour of her eye or the size of her. 

I need one of you guys so I can read Momma my book!

This sounds like it will be fun, Littlecore, the panels say, and one of ‘em comes up higher from the floor so I can put my book on it.  We have never heard a book be read before.

I ain’t never read one neither!

Momma makes one of her funny ‘lectronic noises an’ I look at her.  “What is it, Momma?”

“Nothing.  You’ll grow out of it.  I hope.”

I do a shrug an’ carefully open my book.  It’s a bit hard, but if I get stuck Momma can help.  I never seen anything like this before.  The stuff inside is all hard but it moves, it bends kinda, an’ the panels are hard but they can’t do that.  “All right, Momma!  I’m gonna start!”