The Loudest Robot in Town Hall

Sade worked in the reading room at the town hall. It was the quietest room in town.

A sign hung over the door. It said, "No talking. No eating. No noise."

Sade loved the sign. She loved the hush, too. Most days, the only sound was the tick of the clock.

One morning, a man pushed the door open with his shoulder. He carried a big box.

"Good morning," he whispered. "My name is Uriel. I come from the toy club."

"Good morning," Sade whispered back. "How can I help you?"

"The mayor wants a gift for the children's corner," Uriel said softly. "Here it is."

He opened the box with care. Inside sat a silver robot. It was as tall as a cat. It had round blue eyes and two long arms.

"It is lovely," said Sade. "What can it do?"

"It waves, it dances, and it tells stories," Uriel said. "The children come at two o'clock to meet it."

Sade looked at the wall clock. It was half past one.

"Then we have thirty minutes," she said.

Uriel pressed the button on the robot's back. Nothing happened. He pressed it again. Still nothing.

"Oh no," he said. "The batteries are flat."

"Do you have new ones?" Sade asked.

"No. I left them at home," Uriel said. "My home is an hour away."

Sade thought for a moment. "The shop on Market Street sells batteries," she said.

"Is it open now?" asked Uriel.

Sade picked up the phone and called the shop. A sleepy voice said the owner was at lunch. The shop opened again at two.

"The shop is shut until two," Sade told Uriel. "That is too late for us."

A woman at a nearby table lifted her head. She gave them a long look.

"Please," she whispered. "This is a reading room."

"Sorry," Sade and Uriel whispered together.

Uriel opened a small door on the robot's back. "It needs two big round batteries," he read. "Do you have any?"

Sade opened every drawer in her desk. She found pens, paper clips, and a ruler. She found one old sock.

"Why do you keep a sock in your desk?" Uriel asked.

"It is a long story," Sade said. "The sock does not like to talk about it."

Uriel laughed, then put a hand over his mouth. Three readers looked up and frowned.

Sade turned to the drawer again. Then she looked up at the wall. The big clock ticked above the door. It had a round white face and a thick black frame.

"Wait," she said. "That clock uses two big round batteries."

"Then the clock will stop," said Uriel.

"Yes, it will stop," Sade said. "But the robot will work. I can buy new batteries after lunch."

Uriel looked at the clock. He looked at the robot. "Is that allowed?" he asked.

"No," said Sade. "But the children come soon."

She dragged a chair to the wall and climbed up. The clock was heavier than it looked. She lifted it down and carried it to her desk.

Sade opened the back of the clock. She took out the two batteries and gave them to Uriel. The ticking stopped. For the first time, the room was truly silent.

The hands of the clock said 1:36. They did not move.

Uriel slid the batteries into the robot. He closed the little door. He took a deep breath and pressed the button.

The robot's eyes lit up blue. Its long arms rose into the air. Then it spoke.

"HELLO, FRIENDS! IT IS STORY TIME!"

The voice was as loud as a fire bell. The woman at the table jumped. A man dropped his book on the floor. A pile of newspapers slid off a chair.

"Shh!" Sade said. She put a finger to her lips.

"SHH! SHH!" the robot said. It waved both arms. "SHH! SHH! SHH!"

"Turn it down!" Uriel cried. He forgot to whisper.

He turned the robot over. Under its arm, he found a small wheel for the sound. It was stuck at the top. He pushed it with his thumb. He pulled it with two fingers. The wheel did not move.

"I need a screwdriver," he said. "Do you have one?"

"No!" Sade said. Her eyes went to the open drawer. They stopped on the sock.

She grabbed it. She pulled it over the little round speaker on the robot's chest. She tied it there with a paper clip.

"Hello, friends," the robot said. "It is story time."

Now its voice was small and soft, as if under a blanket. The room went still.

The woman at the table looked at the robot. Then she smiled. "That is better," she whispered. "I like him."

Two readers began to clap, very quietly. Their hands made almost no sound at all.

At two o'clock, the children came. There were twelve of them. They walked in a line. A girl at the front pointed at the robot.

"It whispers!" she said, in the smallest voice she had.

"Hello, robot," all twelve children whispered together.

The robot waved. It danced in a slow circle on the carpet. Then it told a story about a button and a coin.

The children sat on the floor and listened. Nobody shouted. Nobody ran. One boy laughed so hard that he rolled over. He made no sound at all.

Sade stood by the wall and watched. Uriel stood next to her, with a big smile.

"I think the sock likes its new job," he whispered.

"I think the sock is the best worker here," Sade whispered back.

When the story ended, the children clapped with their fingertips. Then they went to look at the picture books.

The clock lay on Sade's desk. Its hands still said 1:36. Nobody looked at it.

The robot lifted one arm. In its soft voice, it asked, "Does anyone know the time?"