The Lazer Robot

BUY THE HOTTEST NEW TOY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON - THE LAZER ROBOT!

COMES IN TWELVE VIVID COLORS AND WITH SPECIAL LAZER VISION!

ONLY $30.30!

A ten year old Boomstick looked at the sign in the shop window, then looked at the marketed toy itself. The one on display was a shiny red Transformer-like thing with gold and black accents on it, and occasionally its eyes would flash and shoot out what resembled lazer beams. They weren't real ones, mind you. Just special lights made to resemble them. But it still looked pretty cool.

For a moment, Boomstick just stared on at the Lazer Robot in complete awe. And then he looked at the price. $30.30. He checked in his pockets but all he could find was two cents. He could ask his mother for more, but she wouldn't be able to give him the right amount.

A flustered woman in a leopard skin coat, black crochet hat and scarlet high heels walked into the store. Boomstick headed in after her, planning to get a better look at this coveted holiday season toy. But when he looked over at the counter, she was already ordering it. She proceeded to shove the box that it was fitted inside into a plastic bag before scurrying out, tutting to herself about her "son".

Boomstick walked up to the counter and placed the two cents on the counter anyway. He half expected the the shop assistant to look down his nose and snap at him to pay more money, but he just chuckled instead. In a way, it felt worst.

"You won't be able to buy anything with that, you know," the shop assistant said, giving the boy a sad smile.

Boomstick's hand curled into a fist as if he planned to make a threat, but the shop assistant paid no mind to this. "Why don't you come back tomorrow, my young man? You'll probably have more money to buy something then."

Boomstick walked out, blushing with embarrassment and anger. Even if the shop assistant was trying to be "nice", he still came off as condescending. He'd wished that he'd brought his gun with him - maybe that would have made the message more obvious.

***

He would try again tomorrow. And the day after that. But each time, no luck. And every day, a new grown-up would buy a Lazer Robot for their kids instead, whether it be a confused granny or a lethargic middle-aged father or an anxious young mother.

For the next few days onwards, Boomstick grew increasingly desperate. Seeing the grown-ups buying it for their own kids made his stomach churn with disappointment. He tried earning pocket money from doing chores at home, but his mother could barely afford to give him more than one cent each time. He even thought he'd struck it lucky one time when he found a $50 note on the ground...except that it was a £50 instead. Even when he tried to use it in the shop, they wouldn't accept it.

At one point, he even considered going in and just stealing one when nobody was looking. But there was always that burly security guard standing next to it. Almost as if he knew that desperate kids and grown-ups were planning to nick it off the shelves rather than obtain it the correct way. Boomstick thought about fighting him, but something made him feel that, with his opponent's height, he would lose instantly. And this was a kid who was already training in basic martial arts and weapons. Speaking of weapons, he did think about attack the store with a bazooka one time, but then realised that it would risk wrecking the Lazer Robot itself in the process.

***

And then one day, Boomstick reached his breaking point. School had been dreadful as always, and given that it was the last day, he just wanted to get home for the holidays as soon as possible. Without warning, some kid barged into him without paying attention and headed off without owing so much of an apology.

As Boomstick rubbed his shoulder, which was smarting a bit from the impact, he noticed that it was Marty, the obnoxious blonde tyke who seemed to own everything and enjoyed tormenting Boomstick at every chance he got. If only they allowed guns in school, he had often thought to himself.

But worst of all, Boomstick noticed what Marty was carrying. It was the Lazer Robot he'd been searching for the whole time, in the same colour as the one in the shop. And it wasn't even Christmas Day yet.

Boomstick ran up to him. "Hey! No fair! How come you got one of those before Christmas?!"

Marty just glanced at him as if he was some annoying fly buzzing around his head.

"At least you should let me borrow it!" Boomstick stopped for a bit and then shyly begged. "Just once? Please?"

"Well maybe you should have bought one yourself!" Marty turned away haughtily. "Oh wait, you can't afford one, can you?"

That was it. Boomstick could feel his blood boiling over and his fists clenching. It was bad enough that Marty had a Lazer Robot, but now he had to bring money into the situation...

At that point, Boomstick leapt at Marty, screaming with rage and swinging his fists at him. Marty was no slouch though, and he proceeded to punch back.

They fought for a solid few minutes, the toy discarded next to them. Both kids were unwilling to relent. They both wanted that Lazer Robot, and they wanted it NOW.

At last, Boomstick sat triumphantly above a near-unconscious Marty, who now had a black eye and a bleeding nose. His pride soon turned to excitement as he noticed the toy nearby. He made a grab for it and held it in the air.

This was it. The Lazer Robot was his now. Finally he could have one like everyone else.

Pity that Marty's mum had to turn up and ruin things.

***

Mama Boomstick had just turned up to collect her son when she noticed an enraged blonde lady in a thick yellow coat marching towards her, dragging him by the arm. A bloodied Marty was walking next to them, carrying the, admittedly slightly less pristine, robot.

"Booby! What happened?!"

Marty's mother spoke first before he had time to answer.

"You there! Your son here has been menacing my own, for crying out loud!"

Marty proceeded to stick his tongue out at Boomstick, who gave him a filthy look in return.

Mama Boomstick swatted the woman's hand away from her son. As he ran over to a nearby tree to sit down behind him, he could make out a ferocious argument between both mothers. He couldn't hear all of it, but he wasn't in the mood to focus anyway.

Eventually, it died down. Boomstick thought about what had just happened and the toy robot he'd only had for a solid five seconds before having it snatched away again. He held his knees tight and buried his face in them, a tight feeling in his chest.

The sound of Mama Boomstick's voice caused him to lift it up again.

"It's okay, son. Let's go home now. Never mind that dreadful lot."

She took Boomstick's arm and helped him up. He looked back at where Marty and his mother and been. They were long gone by now.

"Mommy?"

"What is it?"

"Would you be able to buy a Lazer Robot for me?"

Mama Boomstick looked to the side and gave a despondent sigh. "I don't know if I'll be able to do it. It's pretty pricey after all."

Boomstick felt more hopeless than ever.

"But I will try," his mother said. "If you want one, so be it."

***

True to her word, she did. Not that she was any more successful than her son had been. Money was tight after all. Even bringing out the big guns didn't work this time round.

She had however been extra busy. Each night, when Boomstick went to bed, she stayed up to do some extra business. Sure, it meant that she didn't get much sleep during the night, but she still persisted.

On Christmas Eve, she watched her son get into bed again and fall asleep. Mama Boomstick looked down at him for a bit, before turning her attention to some sort of device in her hand. Determined, she placed it back in her apron pocket and headed off to the other side of their one-room shack.

***

Christmas morning. Boomstick was woken up by a hand on his shoulder.

"Happy Christmas, junebug."

Mama Boomstick was standing next to his bed holding a beer can in her other hand. She had specks of paint and grease on her dressing gown and had grey rings round her eyes. Though equally bleary-eyed, Boomstick tossed his blankets off and sat up. In front of him was a large parcel wrapped in newspaper.

"I've got your present for you here."

Boomstick reached over for the present and started unwrapping it. Even if he was tired, present-unwrapping certainly perked him up. Finally, he got the last of the newspaper off. His eyes widened.

"I thought you might like it," Mama Boomstick said.

At first, Boomstick couldn't believe it. He was currently holding his own Lazer Robot.

And then his heart sank.

It was supposed to resemble the Lazer Robot alright. But it looked more like scrap iron stuck together and then crudely painted. The head was too large, the legs were too small, and already Boomstick noticed that some of the paint was peeling off. When he tried to move the limbs, they were stiff and almost stuck in place.

"It's not the best version of it out there," Mama Boomstick said. "But I saw it in the shop window myself and took note of what it looked like. And then spent the next few days working on it. I even tried to copy the lazer vision it supposedly came with. Took me all night to sort that out."

Boomstick didn't really know what to think. Sure, it was nice that his mother had gone to all that effort to make a version of the Lazer Robot for him. But at the same time, it wasn't THE Lazer Robot. It wasn't shiny or sleek like the real deal. It was just scrap material combined together to form a cheap copy.

But then again, there was something kind of special about the fact that his mother HAD gone to all that effort. After all, she'd said that she couldn't afford the real thing either. Plus, it was better than not having ANY sort of toy at all.

And now that Boomstick looked at it even more closely, it did look like a decent-enough robot after all. Not a perfect one, but a good one. Even if it wasn't THE Lazer Robot.

Tears started to well up in his eyes. Mama Boomstick took note of this.

"Are you alright?" she asked with great concern. "I mean, I tried to-"

Boomstick gave her a tearful smile before throwing himself onto her and giving her a tight hug. "It's great. T-thank you Mommy..."

A small smile settled on Mama Boomstick's face as she hugged him back. For a moment, they didn't say a word.

Finally, Boomstick got off her and wiped his face with a fist.

"Well, I'm glad you like it," said Mama Boomstick. "I was worried for a sec, but if you're fine with it..."

"Yeah," Boomstick nodded. "Happy Christmas to you too."

As he held out the Lazer Robot, there was a flash. Almost as if some device in it had been activated. Lasers shot out of its eyes at a shockingly fast speed. They proceeded to singe part of the wall behind the family dog, who started yapping ferociously and ran off in fright.

Boomstick was speechless at first, but then a grin spread across his face. "You gave it ACTUAL lazer eyes?"

"Sure did, sweetheart." Mama Boomstick chuckled as she took another sip of beer.

Boomstick felt his body tingle with happiness. "Oh Marty and the others are so missing out," he giggled.

Mama Boomstick smiled back and headed over to the kitchen area, which was in the opposite corner of the shack. "Now does my son want Southern-Fried Squirrel for his Christmas morning breakfast?"

Boomstick bounded out of bed, still holding onto his Lazer Robot. "Hell yeah!"

And so mother and son sat down together at the table, happily tucking into their breakfast and chattering on about how they were going to spend the rest of Christmas day. A merry Christmas after all, they thought to themselves. The whole time, the Lazer Robot stood (fairly) proudly on the table between them.