Learning to Dance

legs on its shore. She tread water and turned to see the robot
still coming, Up and Pedro struggling to free themselves
from its grip.
The robot, its blank eyes fixed on her, stepped into the
deep water. A strange buzzing sound, and sparks. Suddenly
the robot’s hands opened, and Up and Pedro both dropped
like rocks into the lake below, twin shouts of surprise
abruptly interrupted as they hit the surface with two large
splashes. Taz watched in alarm and amazement as the robot
listed forward, electric currents humming the length of its
body, vibrating through the water into hers. Its eyes went
dark, and then it was falling forward, creating a tidal wave
as it struck the water, sending her whirling head over heels,
disorienting her. Where was the surface, where was the
light, where was the air? She twisted mid-water, seeking,
searching, her lungs straining with too little in them-
Then she felt hands, and she was being pulled up, and
she broke into the beautiful Earth atmosphere with a
grateful gasp. It was Pedro, who waited long enough to see
her start treading water before diving again. Taz looked
around. She couldn’t see Up anywhere.
Pedro’s head broke the surface again, his dark hair
plastered to his forehead, a frightened look on his face. “I
can’t find him, Taz.”
At his words she dove, straining to see through the
blackness of the lake. She could just make out the robot’s
body, lying prone against the bottom. And there, pinned to
its leg and struggling to free himself, was Up, a mere ten
feet below the surface near the edge of the lake. He had to
be almost out of air.
She rose up again and pointed out his direction to Pedro,
swimming faster than she ever had in her life, not waiting
to see if he was following. Taking the biggest breath she
could manage, she used the edge of the robot’s foot to shoot