2nd Place Contest Winner!!! – Sally Jones’s “Christmas Gift Special”

“Christmas Gift Special”

by Sally Jones

I never thought I would get a robotic vacuum for Christmas! I was very surprised. It turns out though there was an even bigger surprise inside this package! I was skeptical of the new robotic vacuums anyway. My sweet husband wanted to surprise me, and HE DID! I named it my Shark Buddy. Could it clean as well my regular vacuum?

We shall see, I thought.

I did daydream about working at my desk peacefully while the rooms were cleaned and housework completed.  “Less time cleaning equals more time writing,” I said to myself. I looked forward to devoting more and more time to my writing. Now I had a solution.

I unwrapped my new robotic vacuum carefully, saving each page of directions so I would get it right. I tried the kitchen first. It worked great.

Ok now, I thought.  Let the special Christmas gift get some work done for me. The floors were really dusty after all the Christmas tree and packages and guest traffic from the holidays. Since the kitchen cleaning went so well, I decided to let my new Shark “Buddy” vacuum the living room and hallways while I was asleep.

I woke up the next morning to spotless clean floors. Then, oh my goodness, there was a note on the floor next to the robot vacuum base station! 

A note? I thought. What could this be? How odd!

I opened the note and began to read:

“Hi! I am your new robotic vacuum. Yes, I will clean your floors. However, I do have other talents that were not advertised. My developer decided to create a robotic vacuum that can also write and communicate with its owners. I am a new generation of robotic vacuums called ‘Robo Word Smith.’

I was not supposed to be shipped out this soon, but because of a factory shortage, somehow I was mistakenly delivered to your local store. Please, please do not send me back to the factory. Since you are also a writer, you understand how hard it might be for me to get another home. When I learned that you are also a writer, I hoped that your home might be a perfect fit for a Robo Word Smith. I will not interfere with your writing work. Please feel free to leave a note for me.”

Oh my goodness! I couldn’t believe it! Then I thought about what a great chance to be involved with cutting edge technology and work with my new pal, Robo Word Smith.

So, I decided to give Robo Word Smith a try.  So I wrote back:

“Dear Robo Word Smith,

 Welcome to my home. My home is your new home. “

The next morning I found another note. It read, “I am very happy to clean your home and help you with your writing, too. My best day is when there are crumbs on your kitchen floor, and there’s plenty of dust to pick up for you. Then I feel like I am being helpful. Dust is everywhere; so let me grab it for you. Crumbs are crummy, but I will take care of them for you. You can count on me! My worst day is when everything is clean because I have nothing to do, but I do enjoy writing, too.”

As the weeks turned into months, Robo Word Smith (nicknamed “Rob,” a.k.a. “Shark Buddy”) turned out to be very helpful.  The house was much cleaner than I expected. The notes left by Rob/Robo Word Smith were very kind and encouraging. I wondered if he was reading my drafts because he often made suggestions or comments about a chapter I had worked on. He offered to write a chapter for me.

I accepted his offer. His writing ideas were very creative and helpful. Now we are co-authors working on writing projects together.   Who would’ve thought a Christmas present would be so full of surprises?