Micro Fiction Monday: Claws and Bolts

                                                      Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash





Grace was no good at ranching, but she was good at making things. So, when her grandaddy passed her down the ranch and he went to his grave, she got to making robots to help her around the place. She created mechanical feeders and automatic hoof polishers and steam-powered groom bots.

She was on top of everything, until the day she met the new veterinarian in town. Leah was her name, and she was beautiful and kind and they always had wonderful conversations. Finally, one day, Leah worked up the courage to ask her out. On the night of their date, Grace took Leah to her favorite Chinese restaurant. When she opened her fortune cookie, it read eerily, “Those close enough are not what they appear.”

Leah blinked at her. “What’s wrong?”

Grace threw it away, and replied, “Nothing.” She stuffed it in her pocket and forgot about it.

After their date, they spent many nights together, taking strolls. It was then Grace realized how empty the ranch had been since she had Leah, who didn’t speak much, but her presence spoke volumes.

On the night that Grace and Leah made love, Grace woke up alone. She searched for Leah and found her by the stables. She was patting one of the horses. Grace wasn’t sure if it was the sleep or the night that made her second-guess what she was looking at. Leah’s jaw was unhinged, her neck contorted in a weird angle.

“Leah?”

“You let me in, Grace.”

Grace stumbled back. The words from the fortune cookie burned in her mind. How could she have fallen in love with this thing? What was she? She ran to her workshop with the haunting realization that some things could not be unmade.

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