The Runaway Robot

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One day, when Andrea was all ready for school, she went outside to get on the bus. But to her surprise, she saw a robot standing right in front of her door!

The robot waved at her, and she waved back.

"Hello robot," Andrea greeted. "Where did you come from?" The robot said nothing in response. It just made some beeping noises.

"Well, it's been nice talking with you, but I have to catch the bus," Andrea said. The robot seemed to understand, stepping out of her way.

She ran to the bus stop, afraid of being late for school.

Just as she was about to reach it, the bus drove away.

"Oh no!" Andrea groaned. "Now I have to walk all the way to school!"

By the time she got to school, Andrea's feet were very sore and tired.

"Andrea!" Mrs. Carlton, her teacher, scowled. "What took you so long? You're late!"

"Well, you see, Mrs Carlton, there was a robot outside my door this morning, and it made me late for school," Andrea explained. Everybody in class burst into laughter.

"Yeah, right," Mrs. Carlton giggled. "Next time, at least have a more convincing excuse."

While Mrs. Carlton taught her class, Andrea heard metal clanking outside. She looked out the window to see the same robot from that morning! She didn't dare get up from her seat, because she was afraid of getting in trouble.

A little bit later, a man dressed in a lab coat burst in through the door. He looked like a scientist.

"Hello. Sorry to interrupt, but have any of you seen my robot? He ran away from me this morning." he asked.

"I did," Andrea replied. "It was at my house this morning, and I just saw it walking around outside the window over there."

"Then he must be in this school!" the scientist declared. "Will you help me look for him?"

"Sure," Andrea replied. "Why not?"

So Andrea and the scientist looked up and down, left and right. They looked in the cafeteria, the gym, and every classroom, but they couldn't find the robot.

"We'll never find the robot," Andrea sighed.

"Not with that attitude," the scientist replied. "There's still one place we haven't checked." The scientist led Andrea to the janitor's supply closet.

He opened the door, and there, right in front of them, was the robot, drinking a bottle of soap.

"There he is!" the scientist yelled. "Get bim!"

The robot ran out of the closet, and Andrea and the scientist chased after it.

"No running in the halls!" the principal shouted as they zoomed by her.

Andrea was small, and that meant she was faster than the scientist. Using all the strength she had, she rushed past the scientist and tackled the robot from behind.

"Press the big red button on his back!" the scientist called after her. "That's the off switch!"

Andrea did as he said, and pushed the red button. The robot stopped moving. Andrea looked back at the scientist.

"Why did the robot run away from you?" Andrea asked.

"I don't know," the scientist said. "I must have programmed him wrong. Or maybe it was because I spilled coffee on him the other day... anyway, I'll take him home and fix him. Thank you so much, Andrea! Goodbye!" the scientist said. He picked up the robot and started to walk off.

"Goodbye, Mr. scientist!" Andrea waved. Then she realized something. She had missed three classes! Andrea speedwalked back to class to avoid being yelled at by the principal.

When she got back to class, Mrs. Carlton was furious!

"Andrea! Why did you leave the classroom?" Mrs. Carlton shouted.

"I had to help the scientist stop the robot from malfunctioning," Andrea replied.

"I don't have time for your excuses. Sit down." Mrs. Carlton fumed. It was just one of those days...

The end.