Tic Toc

Jung Hee gazed out into a world blinded by a snowstorm. He watched the flakes whirl and whip in a chaotic dance. He pressed his fingers against the cold, harsh window and a single tear meandered down his cheek. "Beyond this shroud they come for me," he said, his words resigned, his dark eyes forlorn.

He stumbled to the bed where the little mechanical boy awaited. Of all of them, both real and synthetic, this was the one he loved the most. He pressed his head against the android's chest and ran his fingers over the sensuous skin. He listened to the artificial heart, a metronome, TIC TOC TIC TOC TIC TOC. The rhythm soothed him. "Your heart is fabricated but it is not fake. It beats for me as mine does for you."

A gust of wind caused the cabin to shudder. Jung Hee shivered. "They call me a monster," he said. "They're going to do terrible things to me. But I cannot choose who I love. Does that make me a bad person? I'm so very afraid, my little boy." He sobbed, his arms wrapped around his beloved.

Then he heard, above the roar of wind and storm, the voices of the mob. With querulous limbs, he staggered toward the golden Buddha idol resting on the shelf across the room. He kowtowed before the figure and mouthed a silent prayer.

Jung Hee did not hear the mechanical boy rise. He did not see him approach. He did not feel the weight of the Buddha as it crashed down upon his head.

The boy rolled Jung Hee upon his back. He lay down next to him, his artificial head resting upon the silent chest, his thin arms holding protective the still warm body.

The sound of fists pounded upon the door. The wind howled. All that dimmed. The only sound now a mechanical heart dying:

TIC TOC TIC TOC… TIC… TOC….. TIC………. TOC……………

…TIC

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