“Lie down,” Master Mind tells Madelyn as he holds the axe in his hand.
“Not on the porch!” Suzy suddenly says.
We’ve both been very quiet. These last few minutes have been beyond our experience. Suzy shrugs when I look at her. I know her. She feels stupid that this was the only thing she had to say, and yet it had to be said.
Madelyn goes down the stairs and lies down on the soil of our garden. She makes sure her legs are straight and easy for Master Mind to cut.
Master Mind walks down the stairs with the axe.
“I can’t watch,” Joy says and hides her head inside the hammock.
“Me neither,” Suzy says and looks away.
Justin looks at his shoes, at Madelyn, at the porch, then at Madelyn. He doesn’t want to watch and yet he can’t look away. I’m the same. I look only from the corner of my eye.
“Are you ready?” Master Mind asks.
“Do it, robot.” Madelyn nods and looks away.
“This will only work if you watch,” Master Mind reminds her.
She looks at him. Her mouth is tight. She is anticipating how bad it’s going to feel.
Master Mind raises the axe.
Madelyn squints, her face contorts, but she doesn’t move away.
Master Mind swings the axe above his head.
Madelyn squeaks and doesn’t look away. I look at her just through the corner of my eye, not being able to watch it straight on.
Master Mind brings down the axe and suddenly there is a flash of light between them. Master Mind is thrown high into the air, above Bonny’s Revenge. I hear him land in the ocean behind it with a splash.
I look at Madelyn’s legs: untouched.
She sits up. “I am sorry, robot!” she yells.
Madelyn looks at Justin and Joy. “I do not know what to do,” she says and tears fall down her cheeks. “I must get rid of these legs.”
(To be continued…)
—Told by Grampa Walt