The Red Bird

Chapter 4-The Red Bird Might Have a Love Interest

(But She Refuses to Acknowledge It)

At the home of the scientist...

"Scott!" my dad yells up the stairs. "Come down here! We need to talk."

I groan and roll out of bed. Yes, I'm still just laying in my bed even though it's almost noon. Don't judge me.

I slowly make my way downstairs and stands behind my dad.

"Scott!" my dad roars.

"Dad, I'm literally right here..." I say.

He turns around and his face gets red. "Oops... Sorry, but this is very important!"

"Okay... What's it about this time?" I ask, hopefully sounding as disinterested as I really am.

"Okay, so you know the story of the Red Bird, yes?"

"Oh, you mean the one that you tell me nearly every day? Absolutely not. Never heard of it in my life, actually."

If you can't tell, my dad and I have a great relationship.

He just stares at me for a moment before he continues.

"Well, she had a daughter, and she's about your age, and-"

"Ouch..."

"What do you mean 'ouch'?"

"I mean, dude, you were like obsessed with her, and then she ended up with someone else? That's gotta sting..."

He must have never thought about that before, as his face contorts into a look of sadness and then anger.

"Just... Listen, please? This is important," he says through clenched teeth.

"Okay, sheesh..." I say, holding up my hands.

"Anyway... I was thinking that maybe you could join them and go do what they do! I mean, if you went along with the rules of everyone else, you should have moved out of here seven years ago..."

"But I don't follow those rules, because I'm the son of a scientist, and thus I'm supposed to be a scientist when I reach twenty years..." I say, reciting my fate for what must be the hundredth time this year.

"Yes, but you've got three years to be with them though!" he says excitedly. "Just think about it! You could take my place! They're already filling in for their moms! You're the missing piece of the puzzle! They need you!" He's now throwing his arms around and jumping all over the place. "You can have my lab in the basement, and-"

"Wait, I'd get your old lab?!" I ask. I'd heard about it, and it's every scientist's dream.

"Yes! Do you want to go now?"

"Uh, yeah! Just for the lab though... I'm not falling into that pit of 'love' like you did..."

He ignores my comment and goes out the front door.

I shake my head in disbelief and follow him.

Back to the Red Bird...

We're all sitting on the couch watching the fakey reality TV show that Gladys for some reason loves when all of a sudden the screen cuts out to an incoming call from an unknown caller.

Gladys beeps in fury at the interruption of her favorite show, but leaves the living room so she isn't in the call. It's frowned upon to have your robots in a call, even though they all look exactly the same and everyone has one...

I answer the call and stare at the screen, eager to see who it is.

The screen is static for a moment before the image clears to the scientist that was at our house a few hours ago.