The Robot Who Could Not Draw

Tock was the robot in Room 4. It was tall and silver, with two round eyes. It helped the teacher, Rosa, with the lessons. It was very good at numbers.

"Seven plus eight is fifteen," Tock said every morning. "Twenty minus six is fourteen."

The children loved Tock. It never got tired. It never forgot a name. It could count all the chairs in one second.

But Tock had a secret. It could not draw.

One Friday, Rosa gave the class a new job. "Today we draw an animal," she said. "Pick one you like. Use your colors."

The children got their paper. Kira, a girl of seven, sat near the window. She wanted to draw a cat. She had a black pencil and a pink one.

Tock rolled to the front of the room. "I want to draw too," it said. "I can do a cat."

The class looked up. Nobody knew that Tock could draw.

Tock took a big pen in its metal hand. It moved the pen across the paper. The room was quiet. After ten seconds, it held up its picture.

The picture had a square head and a square body. It had four square legs. The eyes were two perfect circles. The tail was a straight line.

"This is a cat," said Tock.

A boy at the back laughed. Then everyone laughed. Tock's eyes turned from blue to gray.

"Is something wrong?" it asked.

"No," said Rosa. She smiled. "But cats are not square, Tock."

"I know," said Tock. "I measure everything. A cat has four legs, two ears, and twenty-four whiskers. I put it all in my picture. But it looks wrong."

Kira put her pencil down. She walked to the front of the room. She looked at Tock's picture. Then she looked at its face.

"I can help you," she said.

"You are a child," said Tock.

"I draw a lot," said Kira. "Come here."

She sat on the floor with a new paper. Tock rolled down next to her.

"First, do not count," said Kira. "Just look. A cat is like a soft pile of things. It has no corners."

"No corners," said Tock.

"Start with a circle for the head. Then a bigger circle for the body. Then make the lines go around, not straight."

Tock tried. Its first circle was too perfect. Kira laughed and said, "Make it a little wobbly. Like this."

She put her small hand on Tock's metal hand. They moved the pen together. The line went up and down, soft and slow.

Tock tried again alone. Its second cat had a round head. It had a round body too. It had two pointy ears. The tail went up in a curve.

"Now the whiskers," said Kira.

"Twenty-four," said Tock.

"No," said Kira. "Just draw some. Make them go in all ways."

Tock drew six whiskers on one side. It drew five on the other. They were not equal. It looked at the picture for a long time.

"It looks like a cat," Tock said, very quietly.

At day end, Rosa hung the pictures up. Kira's cat was next to Tock's cat. They were not the same. Tock's cat was a little crooked.

Tock rolled up to the wall. Its eyes turned from gray to bright blue. Inside its metal chest, something felt warm and light.