The Robot Doll

It was 4038, and Dana was shopping with her mother. It was her ninth birthday and she was going to get a robot doll and was so excited. There was a pretty one with a lavender silk dress that she wanted. It had a coruscating ribbon. When they got to the store, she ran inside searching for her new best friend. She immediately found it and ran back to her mother.
“Mother! I got it! Can we buy her now!?” she yelled.
“Of course,” said her mother.
When they walked out of the store, Dana felt a shake. “Mother, what was that?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” her mother replied.
Then, the glass from the windows shattered. People were running everywhere. Dana’s mother rushed her to the town square where there was a public bomb shelter. They crouched down, huddled against each other. The walls were shaking; it felt like a huge earthquake and tornado combined. It was just her and her mother in the shelter.
Dana watched the faintly glowing light swing back and forth. Suddenly, it was pitch black. The rumbling continued for what felt like forever to Dana and her mother. Her mother, not knowing how difficult their journey would be, tried to coax Dana into sleep. She, on the other hand, couldn’t think about sleeping. As usual, Dana dreamed a wonderful dream about hot chocolate, sweets, and her new doll.
When Dana woke up, she couldn’t remember where she was. All she remembered was rumbling, the swinging light, and her new doll. She searched for her doll and found it by her mother. She tried to wake her mother up but couldn’t. Dana was beginning to worry. She looked at her surroundings seeing burnt wood, bricks, and dust everywhere. The shelter was demolished. Unsuccessfully finding the door, she crawled back to her mother. She huddled against her and tried to fight sleep.
Her stomach was growling viciously, so she searched for an opening. After about an hour of searching, she found one out of the collapsed bomb shelter. It was small, but, nevertheless, she tried to crawl through. She had to rearrange a lot but finally got out. She had no idea where she was. There was clear, glistening water in front of her. To her right, there was about 18 meters of sand and then forest. She was stunned by the realization that she was on an island. She hurried to her mother.
“Mother! Mother! Wake Up! You gotta see!” she cried.
Not getting an answer, she became upset. She knew she had to get help, but she didn’t know where help was. She decided to go back out and find food and help.
With her doll in hand, she walked across the hot, grainy sand. Every now and then, she would call out for help. Finally, after hours of searching, she saw smoke.
“No. It’s just your eyes playing a trick on you,” she told herself. As she got closer, she sped up. “Hello! Is anyone there?!” she yelled.
She couldn’t hear a thing so she approached where the smoke was coming from, a blue and white brick cottage. It had windows in the front with a white knocker. The place looked deserted so she approached the window carefully and took a peek. It was bare, but very clean. It had a bookcase the color of rich mahogany near the window. There was an old chair that was appealing to her. She tried the door and surprisingly, she felt the door slowly crack open. She cautiously walked through the door and to the chair, having no more energy to look around for food. She fell into a deep sleep that comforted her aching muscles and sorrowful heart.
“Hello? Who are you? Are you ok?” a raspy voice asked. Dana jumped in surprise falling out the chair. “I’m so sorry! Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. Who are you?” she asked.
“My name’s Dr. Demetri. Who are you? How did you get here and who are you with?”
“I’m Dana and I’m here with my mother,” she replied.
Dana explained what she could to the doctor. It was hard since she was so confused. He told her to go back to sleep after she had a midnight snack. When she awoke, she smelled bacon, eggs, and biscuits. She nearly sprinted to the food and then dug in. Dr. Demetri entered the room with a grim expression.
“Am I going back home soon?” she asked, although she already knew the answer.
“I’m afraid not, but you’re welcome to stay here. I can homeschool you and there are other kids here your age,” he replied, saying the last part excitedly.
Dana didn’t know what to do. She had practically just met Dr. Demetri and she wanted to go home with her mother. That was when it hit her. That was when she knew she would never see her mother alive again. She decided to try to find out more about this Dr. Demetri.
“Why do you live here? What do you do?” she asked.
“I came just like you. I’m an aquatic biologist for Higud. I report all my findings to them,” he answered bluntly.
“How did I get here?”
“I honestly don’t know. It just happens sometimes. No one has been able to figure it out.”
“It’s so confusing. What do you do as an aquatic biologist?”
“You’ll know soon enough,” he said and walked out the room.
Dana decided to explore so she went outside. When she got back from her little adventure, she found Dr. Demetri in the basement that was filled with lab equipment. It had everything from test tubes to hydro labs.
“Will you please tell me now?” she begged.
"There’s someone I want you to meet. Hold on, I’ll go get her”.
He went through a metal door and knelt in front of a hole in the floor. He caught her staring so he shut the door. After minutes of being impatient, he came out. He had a Big rectangle box object with a blanket over it. She tried to somehow look through the blanket to see what it was, but of course she couldn’t.
“When you see her, you gotta promise not to scream.”
“I promise,” she said shakily.
She was thinking of all the possibilities for the person under the blanket. She could feel the goose bumps rise as he slowly began to remove the blanket. She would never forget what she saw under the blanket. There was a glass rectangle water tank that was taller and wider than Dr. Demetri. Inside, was the weirdest creature she had ever seen. It looked like a creature from the Black Lagoon storied she had read. It was brown, green, blue, and black.
“What’s wrapped all around her?” she asked puzzled.
“It’s a plant called algae. It’s one of the main producers in a reservoir or lake. She got infected in the local lake by something. This is what I do: try to uninfect her. She can hear and talk just like normal, but must be contained in water at all times. She’s really nice. Say something to her”, he encouraged.
“Umm….h-hi,” she stuttered.
“Hi. No need to be afraid. I won’t bite or anything. My name’s Ephany. What’s your name?” Ephany asked.
“My name is Dana. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Likewise little Dana,” Ephany said with a singsong voice.
Dana didn’t know what to think. She was talking to a creature that she didn’t even think could exist. Ephany, Dr. Demetri, and Dana talked for a little while until Ephany had to go back into the hole in the ground. According to Dr. Demetri, it took Ephany to the lake. Ephany was really nice. She reminded Dana of her mother whom she missed a lot. Dr. Demetri told her that she could talk to Ephany again tomorrow while he conducted more tests. He said he was really close to curing her. Dana hoped he was because she wanted to meet her as a real person and someone she was still a little scared of.
The next day, Dana got to know Ephany better while Dr. Demetri conducted tests. She learned that Ephany came to the island just like she had. Apparently, everyone on the island had come that way. Also, she learned that Ephany was from Tennessee. Ephany told her the island was called Mercala and that no one knew how it formed or how people get there.
“I should be able to treat you in a matter of days. I just have to make a solution. I could explain it but it’s pretty complicated,” Dr. Demetri reported.
They all cheered and decided to celebrate after Ephany got treated. The next couple of days, Dana was alone most of the time. Dr. Demetri was in the lab twenty-four seven and Ephany was in the water savoring her last day because that night she would be cured. Dana wasn’t going to be allowed in the room when it happened but she was going to get to see her right after her transformation. Dr. Demetri and Ephany were in the lab that very moment getting ready.
She was able to tell when they started. She could hear Ephany’s desperate calls while she was changing from a creature back to a human. Soon, Dr. Demetri called her inside. Dana jaw dropped to the floor when she saw the new woman sitting in front of her. She had long, curly, dark brown hair with blonde highlights. She had a beautiful face with piercing green eyes. She saw the way her eyes lit up when she saw herself in a mirror.
“You’re beautiful Ephany,” Dana said in awe.
Like planned they celebrated. They had great food and music. Dana had the time of her life. Dr. Demetri was starting to cure others who were infected the next day. Dana stayed and lived with Dr. Demetri. She saw Ephany everyday and kept the robot doll with her at all times to remind her of her mother. She wanted to grow up to be an aquatic biologist just like Dr. Demetri. Dana and her doll lived a great life.