Machine

• Georgia Barnes, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2015

'Imagine the world made entirely out of machines... The ground is metal, the sky is grey from smoke and exhaust, buildings are machines themselves, and even the people are robots - but with a heart and brain. This is the world I live in, and I am the Mayor's daughter. My name is Elivia.

'What many people don't know on Ti'Lillia - my planet - is that my father is planning on doing the unthinkable; he's going to shut down the planet. Soon, all the factories will stop working, the lights will go out, and the people will cease to live. All for what, I hear you ask? Pure greed! He's taking our family to a new place, one where we can evolve the planet into a better version of Ti'Lillia.'

'Livi!' A voice shouts up to her giant room upstairs, 'Livi, dinner's ready!'

'Coming, Mother!' Elivia shouts back, hurriedly turning off her recording machine. After dinner, she'd leave it outside for someone to find and hopefully listen to. She runs down the stairs, her blonde curls billowing out behind her.

'Who were you talking to?' Elivia's father asks suspiciously.

'Oh, no one. Just Mr. Chirp.' She replies. Mr. Chirp is her pet beetle that she keeps in a glass jar. She's always talking to him.

'Okay, then. Do you want to know when we're leaving?' Elivia doesn't want to, but she knows she'll hear anyway. 'Tomorrow!' Her father beams happily.

'That's great!' Her mother smiles.

'Yay.' Elivia replies flatly.

'Come on, Livi. We'll be the rulers of the whole of this new world! Not just one city.' Elivia is scared of her father, so on a normal day, she wouldn't dare talk back to him. But today isn't a normal day.

'Father, this isn't right! She exclaims, standing up from her seat. 'You're throwing away thousands of lives, just so that you can get more power! How dare you? I have friends here, you have friends! Why can't we stay here and be happy?'

'Elivia!' Her mother says, shocked at her rebuke. 'Go outside to think about what you've just said!'

'Gladly!' She storms out of the room and slams the front door shut. Little does her mother know, this gives Elivia the perfect excuse to plant the recording. Quietly, she creeps down the road with the recording in her hand. She wants to put it somewhere where it's obvious, but somewhere where it won't get run over or trod on. Eventually, she settles for on the footpath.

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The next day, someone is walking down the street, and his foot kicks something on the ground.

'Huh?' He says, and picks it up. It's a recording device! He is a curious man, and is all ears for gossip. He plays back the message greedily. What he hears, he hadn't expected to hear.

Within an hour, he's gathered an army of angry robots, ready to charge down the mayor's door! They will live, and that is thanks to Elivia.