Have you ever owned a mechanical dog? My dogs have all been alive and furry, but the mechanical dogs in CHASING RAINBOWS were a fun addition to this story.
EXCERPT from CHASING RAINBOWS
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"Do you remember the mechanical dogs Uncle Horace made for us?”
“Mmm.” Ryan took a bite of his cereal.
“They walked and barked. Not like a real dog with fur to bury your face in, but no one else had a dog like ours. Uncle Horace is transforming mine into a new invention. What happened to yours?”
Instead of answering, Ryan changed the subject.
....
When Ian reached the foot of the stairs, the old man glanced up from a beeping metal creation he had been poking with a screwdriver. When Ian drew closer, he realized it was a mechanical dog. "What can I do for you, son?"
"I'm looking for Madelaine Ainsworth." Ian raised his voice to be heard over the noise.
"What did you say your name was?" The older man poked at the buzzing metal creature, and it threw sparks at him.
"MacGregor. Ian MacGregor." He wondered if there was a fire extinguisher nearby in case the contraption burst into flames.
"MacGregor, eh? I'm Horace Ainsworth." Horace tightened several bolts and rearranged a coil of wire on the side of the dog. Abruptly, the buzzing stopped.
"Aha!" Horace cried triumphantly. He patted the little dog fondly and turned his attention to Ian. "So, Mr. MacGregor, what can I do for you?"
...
She was slowly circling the turret when Ian rejoined her, fingers tracing the life-sized mural that wrapped around the room. "Aunt Maddie painted this the first summer we were here--after Daddy died. I got to help her."
The mural was painted from the perspective of a princess surveying her domain out the window of the castle. The picture featured muscled oxen pulling wooden carts while sturdy peasants in rough clothing toiled just beyond the courtyard. A knight in silver armor galloped across the drawbridge on a white charger. And above it all, a multi-colored rainbow stretched across the sky, its bow coming to rest inside the castle walls.
Rissa's hand lingered on the rainbow as she smiled wistfully. "She said rainbows are everywhere, you just have to look for them. So we did. Up in the hills, over at the coast--even at night. We even named our mechanical dogs Rainbow One and Rainbow Two. Surprised they didn’t rust when we were looking for rainbows. Aunt Maddie would open the sun roof in the pouring rain and ask if we could see the rainbows across the moon."
© Genene Valleau, writing as Genie Gabriel
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