DEAR UNCLE ROBOT

CHAPTER 3

    The day came quickly. Everything had been planned the day before. One after the other, her two uncles had visited her mother. Uncle Simon had even driven across two states and had brought along his two children. A boy and his sister, about four and five respectively. They were all thrilled at seeing Hanna, who they had heard so much stories of. Hanna, on the other hand, was exceedingly glad on seeing her uncle Simon. There was a lot of bonding to be done and the family was gradually getting larger. Of course, the house was not that big enough to accommodate them so they had volunteered to rent a nearby hotel room.

     Hanna had been skeptical about what to wear and bring along. But then, her mother suggested she should just pack few of her clothes apart from the ones she would be putting on, which was a black and white gown . Calculatively, they would be back on Tuesday. Earlier, she had called the school proprietor and carefully explained the predicament in her family. It had taken several explanations before he finally agreed. It would be hard getting someone else to full her place at the school, especially when it's connected with a bunch of kids messing up their shorts every now and then.

    Henry and his sister, Isabella ( Simon's children by the way ) came fully packed. Two new suitcases crammed with clothes and toys. She had only spent some few hours with them last night and she already knew how over pampered they were. Uncle Simon wouldn't even let them out of their sight for a second.

     Hanna's suitcase was completely in contrast to theirs in the sense that hers was old and cheap looking, like one of those second hand stuffs and hadn't been used in a while.

     There were two vehicles; Phillip's Jeep with Simon's salon. The group were divided into two. One group would be traveling with Phillip while the other, with Simon. Naturally, Hanna opted for the former, alongside with her mother. Their plan was that they would meet Sandra and her daughter, Rose back at the town. Of all the family members, Hanna secretly longed to see Rose. The duo had grown up under the same roof, in the same town. And they were more like sisters than cousins.

    Simon offered to say a short prayer as they gathered around the table in the sitting room. They were all christians and Hanna had been part of the church choir...that was until she got admitted into the boarding school. The prayer was a short one and they all held each other's hands. Then, after a quick breakfast, the journey began. Many of their neighbors trooped out of their various houses to watch them leave. Some of them waved repeatedly and Uncle Simon responded by honking at them. As the cars moved out of the neighborhood, the feeling returned. The feeling something was going to happen and it won't be good. Something like a tiny almost inaudible voice from the depths of her heart told her she might not be seeing those faces for a long time....
    
       ......if she even get to see them again

       She muttered a silent prayer and clutched the chaplet that hung around her neck. Janet probably heard her and she glanced back from the front seat, and smiled peacefully.

       " Everything will be ok, Hanna " She said reassuringly.

    For some reasons, that smile on her mother's face made Hanna shudder.  She forced a smile of her own.

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     Rose flipped to another page again. The previous story was merely a fable about the lion and a cunning mouse. This present story was titled ' Pride '. She sighed and looked up from the book at her parents. They both sat before her.

      " Are we there yet? " She asked.

  " Nope, nope, nope " Her father murmured as he spun the steering wheel.

     Sandra looked back at her through the pair of black sunglasses on her face.

    " Feeling hungry yet, Darling? " She asked.