--Bertha Oneshots--

Trick Or Treat!

Happy Halloween!

It was lunchtime at Spottiswood and Company, and Bertha temporarily stopped work. All morning, Bertha had been making last minute trick or treat pails for Halloween next week. She used orange plastic that had been melted into shape like it's in its own horror movie. Scorching hot temperatures to melt its terrifying silent screams. Eyes were painted on with a stencil to contrast the black of All Hallows' Eve. Spooky and dull, just what the original design had sketched. It's head, sawed open and sanded, already hallow yet it makes plenty of room for sweet treats to go in. Tradition says that Halloween used to be a day for scaring monsters away; nowadays, we all just celebrate this ridiculous belief.

Guising was starting to become popular in the country and costumes were almost already sold out. Decorations too were scarce - the house certainly must play their part in this new tradition too. All that's left to be sold were the pails which Bertha happily made spares for those who couldn't get them the first time. Her son, TOM, was quick to like these silly buckets and often asks questions to the staff regarding them. Why are they orange? Why do they have silly faces? ...They have mouths so do they speak?

TOM doesn't know much about traditions and events, but he likes to take part in it so he can have fun too. All throughout lunch hour, the small robot used the time to brainstorm what people do with these pails. They are used for carrying, he knows that about buckets, what what exactly are they meant to carry? Water? Hmm...maybe. He has seen people carrying buckets of water before. Let's try this theory out! TOM scooped one of the pails from the box and ran to the nearest washroom. When he got there, he turned on one of the taps and tried to squeeze the wide bucket onto the sink basin.

Splish. Splash. Splish. Splash. All over the floor.

Splish. Splash. Splish. Splash. Almost full.

Splish. Splash. Splish. Splash. The bucket is now full.

Now to carry it without spilling it. It seems easy enough for a human being, but for a tiny robot like TOM, it proved to be more than a challenge. He started to struggle at carrying the bucket out of the sink basin alone, and some water tipped out from TOM's quick movement. The liquid almost acted like a mini tsunami when it crashed onto the floor. Splat! Splash! Splat! Splash!

Maybe it's not such a good idea to fill it all the way, TOM thought, almost slipping on the water. The pail was now half full and the small robot thought it would be much more painless to carry. He carefully dodged the puddles before opening the door leading to the other room. One of the workers came out of one of the cubicles and wondered what TOM was doing; not noticing the slippery floor below them. They tried to catch him, only to trip their feet up and get a soaked bottom in the process.

Drips of water escaped from the bucket as TOM ran across the dispatch department. A stream followed, and became longer and longer the more the robot meandered. When he got close to Bertha on the factory floor, he lifted the bucket up and showed it to her. Bertha was puzzled, and asked him why he is displaying these in front of her. The buckets don't hold water very well, TOM beeped to her, suggesting that she should make them stronger. This made her eye catch the little water stream her son had unintentionally made. They're not meant to carry water TOM, Bertha sighed before facepalming.

TOM stared at the wet bucket. Aren't these supposed to function like buckets? What's the point of a bucket that can't bare the strength of all that water at once? Ted came up to the small robot, laughing. "These pails are for Halloween, TOM, not the seaside." he told him.

Halloween?

TOM had heard of this holiday before. No wonder he thought the distinctive colour palettes looked familiar. Costumes, decorations, parties. He knows a few things that happen around the time. But is there really more to this old tradition then he thought? TOM poked the machine operator with the bucket and pointed to it. What do you do with these? Please tell him, Ted. "Well...with these pails, you go around people's houses and knock on their doors." Ted taught the robot, kneeling to him. "Then you shout 'Trick or Treat!' to them to get a bunch of sweets, or even a trick where they play pranks on you. That's called guising, but I think people are now starting to call it trick or treating."