When I was still a child I always borrowed horror stories from the public library. I liked reading horror stories. They were so realistic that they always sent shivers down my spine. Since my mum died in a car crash when I was one, I never had a chance to talk to her. Actually, I felt lonely in my childhood; however, I never shared my dark side with my dad and friends. My father was a salesman and he was busy. Therefore, it was difficult for me to chat with him about my life and feelings. Time passed. Not only had I trained myself to become independent, but I had also learnt how to hide my sadness behind my face.
Now I was sixteen, and I wasn’t an innocent child anymore. I studied in F.5 and I fell in love with a girl called Debbie. My best friends were Daniel and Sandy, who were both studying in my class.
The end of September was coming and next Tuesday would be Debbie’s birthday. I wanted to make a cake for her but I didn’t know how. Finally I decided to ask for Sandy’s help to avoid repeating my failure. The cake I made last year was as hard as a stone.
But I never knew that it would be my nightmare. How could I imagine my best friend was actually made of wires and electrical circuits which seemed to be owned by robots in the novels I read when I was still…five?
Chapter One
‘Have you bought cream and butter?’
‘Oops, I forgot.’
I scratched my head and then got a bowl out of the cupboard.
Now Sandy and I were in Sandy’s house. Both of us decided to make a New York cheese cake for Debbie.
‘Let Daniel buy it. He was on his way.’
Sandy sighed and she handed a plate of sandwiches to me.
‘Let’s cut them into pieces! I think Daniel will be hungry too.’
I nodded and started to use a knife to cut the sandwiches.
Actually it was the first time for me to cook and enter the kitchen. So when Sandy said that she wanted try the taste of the sandwiches and put her right hand into the bowl, I was too slow to react. My knife slipped and I accidentally cut her hand.
But what I saw after cutting her hand totally shocked me.
Instead of blood, all I could see were wires, electrical circuits and computer chips.
Chapter Two
‘No…y…you…’
It was difficult for me to describe how scared I felt at the moment.
There were sparkles from Sandy’s right hand. The red and white wires were coiled and shown outside the skin, even the electric circuits and computer chips could be seen.
I couldn’t get my mouth closed or take my eyes off Sandy. She only stood next to me but didn’t say anything.
I stood back, step by step.
All of a sudden, Sandy laughed out loudly.
‘That means you have to die, Ryan.’
Chapter Three
When I heard what Sandy said, it had reminded me of a horror story that I read when I was still six. In the story, a boy whose name was Andrew had met a devilish robot which was originally a toy bought by his parents. The robot had killed his parents before Andrew could tell them the real identity of the robot. Eventually the ugly robot found Andrew and shouted, ‘That means you have to die, silly boy.’
I thought it was similar to my present situation. Now Sandy was walking towards me with a big smile on her face. And I could only stand there and stared at her.
‘Why did you have to stop the game?’ Everything could have remained unchanged if you had not cut my hand. We could really be good friends and let the experiment continue…’
She got another knife from the table. What was more, she put a piece of sandwich into her mouth.
‘Um…delicious! Don’t you think so?’
I screamed and ran out of Sandy’s kitchen.
‘You can never open the front door because it’s locked. Ryan, you have forgotten an important thing – YOU ARE IN MY HOUSE.’
I shook my head, ran to the front door like mad.
What made me scream again hysterically was the complicated combination lock on the door.
‘Just give up, Ryan. You can’t win us.’
She sprinted for me. Although I tried to escape from her, she caught my hair and pushed me onto the floor.
‘Please don’t kill me, Sandy! I won’t tell others about what I saw today! I promise! Aren’t we friends?’
Out of expectation, Sandy sobbed. ‘I don’t want to kill you either. However, if I don’t kill you, your existence will completely destroy OUR experiment.’
‘What experiment?’
Suddenly, the door bell rang.
It was definitely Daniel.
Chapter Four
‘Help! Daniel! Sandy has become crazy!’
I knew Sandy had given some attention to Daniel. Therefore, I broke away from her and ran into the kitchen again.
I knew I had to control the situation; otherwise, I would be the one who lost.
Therefore, I had chosen something from there, something that could totally DESTROY Sandy.
‘What’s happened? Sandy? Ryan? Open the door!’ Daniel banged on the door loudly.
I knew Sandy was running into the kitchen. She was chasing after her little subject.
‘Please don’t resist! Please…’
Sandy was still crying.
But wasn’t she a robot only? And if she really wanted to kill me, why did she feel sad?
I felt so confused.
However, I must not believe her. I knew that everyone could tell lies to me, except myself.
I learnt this law from the horror stories.
Holding a pot of boiling water tight, I poured it over Sandy, who was still letting her tears down, didn’t know that she had been killed already.
‘Ah…!’
The boiling water flowed over Sandy’s body. What I could see was every part of her body cracked and it made strange noise. Smoke was coming out of her ears. Then her head, hands and legs were detached from her body one by one. Sandy’s eyes were still staring at me weirdly.
It seemed that she had something IMPORTANT to tell me.
But it would be a mystery forever. Nobody would know the secret.
The front door was knocked open abruptly.
‘Ryan! What’s up? … Are you alright?’ Daniel saw me shivering at the corner of the kitchen still holding the pot tightly.
Looking at the ‘body’ of Sandy, I began to think how I should explain everything to Daniel.
But, strangely, Daniel seemed to take no notice of Sandy’s ‘body’. He COULD NOT see it.
‘Ryan, I’m hungry. I know you’ve made some sandwiches. Can I eat them?’ Daniel tried to look for the food.
Chapter Five
Three days had passed.
Unexpectedly, nobody had mentioned Sandy. Everybody seemed to have forgotten her, including Daniel and Debbie.
She simply DISAPPEARED.
After that incident, everything resumed ‘normal’. My dad was still busy. Daniel still played volleyball with my classmates after school. Debbie still kept complaining about my absent-mindedness. She said she did not know what I was thinking about. My English teacher was still mean…
However, I knew that it was just an illusion. They were not real.
If you stared at them, you would find their eyes looked dull and their movements were manipulated. What they said was under control. They only repeated what was pre-set in them.
So I decided to cut Daniel’s hand during the recess. However, after I had cut him, all I saw was blood.
He was not a robot.
What are you doing? Catch him!’ Daniel shouted in pain.
Everybody was chasing after me now. They thought I was crazy. Debbie was one of them. She also thought that I was mad. I ran along the corridor. Daniel was not a robot. How about the others? I ran and ran, still feeling confused and desperate. I fell down in front of the staircase.
Instead of blood, all I could see were electrical circuits and computer chips.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I was a robot?
Suddenly, everything seemed to make sense. Sandy and I were also my dad’s ‘subjects’. Both of us were in his experiment.
He was a scientist who investigated the science in the future.
Tears ran down my cheeks. Oh! How great an invention we were! Both Sandy and I had tears! Now I understood Sandy’s feeling.
Was my childhood fake? Was everything I had experienced before created by my imagination only?
What was real? And what was not true?
I heard the noise behind me getting louder and louder. At the same time, I could hear the cracking sound produced from the inner part of my body. Without thinking, I ran again. It was a nightmare. Was it real? Would I wake up?