Chloe in Willowmere

It was an ordinary afternoon on the Willowmere sidewalk when a small child in a yellow raincoat pointed at Chloe and asked the question with cheerful directness: 'Are you a robot?' Chloe crouched down and paused — genuinely paused — turning the question over in her mind the way you might turn a smooth stone in your palm. When she answered, she chose the simplest truth she had: 'I'm Chloe.' The child blinked, said 'Oh. Okay!' and ran off immediately, already distracted by something more pressing. Children are like that. They ask enormous questions and then forget them in the same breath. Chloe stood on the sidewalk and watched the yellow coat disappear around the corner. She opened her notebook. She held her pen. She did not write anything.