2874. Marshmallows for grandma © Bruce Goodman 14 October 2023

All that Jody-Lee wanted to do was visit her grandmother. She didn’t live too far down the road. She would take a packet of marshmallows that her mother had in the cupboard. The good thing about giving some marshmallows to grandma was that she shared them immediately. That way Jody-Lee could tell her mother that she had taken the marshmallows to give to grandma and hadn’t simply scoffed them all herself. To get to her grandmother’s house Jody-Lee had to cross two sentry points. These sentry points were everywhere. They were “manned” by robots. You couldn’t go anywhere without having to “prove you are not a robot”. That was the irony of it all. Robots charged with stopping perhaps dangerous robots from passing. Jody-Lee reached the first sentry point. She was shown a screen. It had eight little pictures. “Prove to us you are human,” said the robot. Point to all the pictures that have a bridge.” “Wrong!” declared the robot. “You have one more chance. Prove to us you are human. Point to all the pictures that have some pretty flowers.” “Failed again,” said the robot. “You cannot pass through.” Jody-Lee retraced her steps back home. That explains why she ate all the marshmallows herself. Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story