The Madrona Heroes Register: Underneath It All

Chapter 8 - The Robotic Milkshake

Jay was pretty sure that the client that had hired him to draw an illustration explaining how to install their new heart monitoring device, would not find the current drawing he was working on a satisfactory substitute.

In this drawing, a giant robotic milkshake was threatening the neighborhood. A shriveled bald old man with an egg shaped head and wraparound bomber goggles sat in the robot’s cockpit shooting milkshake at the homes and people. Jay had wrestled with his villain’s choice of weapon, as wasn’t a milkshake that large really a blessing? But in the end Jay decided that this was the villain’s ironic twist. He took things that people loved and used them as weapons. 

As usual, Zach, Binny, and Cassie were fighting evil wielding their super powers, sarcastic barbs, deadly flying rule books, and mesmerizing singing respectively. But for the first time there was a new addition to their little group – the girl from next door, Penny. 

Illustrated Penny was also barefoot. And it seemed from the drawing that her feet could grow extra large and strong. She was using them to kick a hole in the robot’s side. A hole had started to form. How letting the contents of the giant milkshake leak out through the hole was better than letting the villain shoot it out through the robot’s enormous straw, Jay wasn’t entirely sure. But it was just a doodle after all. It didn’t all have to make exact sense.

After putting the finishing touches on his drawing, a small voice in the back of Jay’s mind started reminding him that his actual paid illustration work awaited for the people that hired him. At that moment Jay would have paid them to let him off the hook.

While Jay loved to draw, there was just something profoundly uninteresting about spending his days drawing images of things he didn’t care about – a heart monitor, a logo for a small bank, a new type of industrial screw.

Once he’d had to draw a sick cruise ship for an article in a magazine about how people were getting sick on cruises. At least there he got to be a little bit funny though the client had made him remove the vomit from his drawing. It was especially sad as the passengers of the ship were actually in the puke he had drawn. He thought that was particularly on point.

Jay was good. He knew it. Penny’s mother Serena had said so. She had said she was “impressed”. Jay recalled her words with precision. That’s what he needed to do – show Serena that he’d included Penny in his latest drawing. She would get a kick out of it. The voice in the back of Jay’s head reminding him to get back to the paid work was mute, for a little while anyway.

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“Oh, hi.” Serena smiled politely as she opened the front door.

Suddenly what had seemed like such a good idea a few minutes earlier seemed juvenile and silly to Jay, but now that he was here, there was no choice but to press on. “I wanted to show you something.”

“Of course. What is it?” Serena said.

“To be honest, I’m also procrastinating a bit, so I appreciate you helping me on that front.” Jay admitted sheepishly.

“I don’t like to boast, but you’re talking to a procrastination black belt. Nobody can touch a writer in that department.”

“You write?” Jay smiled.

“Only when I’ve run out of gardening, cooking, cleaning, TV watching, and reading every single thing on the internet.” Serena looked down at Jay’s hand. “Is that what you wanted to show me?”

“Uh, yeah.” Jay handed her the drawing. “You liked the one on the wall, and this time, I put Penny in the action.”

“Oh. Her bare feet. That’s so great. I’m guessing her powers only come when she takes her shoes off?” Serena didn’t wait for an answer. “You really captured her.”