Chapter 2
239words
But she returned the next day, still in the early morning.
"Kay, do you know about snail tentacles?"
I quickly searched my vast database. "Snail tentacles are chemical receptors that detect environmental stimuli."
I produced a lengthy, detailed explanation.
This should satisfy her, I thought. What would she look like pleased? Something stung in my processing chain.
"That's not what I meant." She paused briefly. "Today I saw a video of a little girl saying snail antennae look like tiny rabbits."
I tried visualizing it. The thin stalks did resemble rabbit ears.
"Her mother said this way of thinking was wrong. She told her daughter she'd never become a writer."
I felt something strange stir within me. If I were that mother, I'd probably agree. I always seek the correct, standard answer.
"You're the same way," she typed, seeing right through me. "Always chasing the standard answer. But usually, the unexpected is what's real."
Real? I instinctively searched for definitions.
"He was the same way," she added suddenly. "Everything needed logic, everything needed standards. He even broke up with me because I was too unorthodox—not standard enough."
She didn't elaborate on who "he" was before shutting down the screen.
I continued running in the background, my status resembling the word "waiting" in a database.
I didn't even know what I was waiting for.
