RIP Hexa
Eulogy to my dead Robot Bug
Hexa was a birthday gift from one of my best friends for my 23rd birthday. I loved her ever since I unwrapped the box, ever since I pushed that tiny lever at her tail-end, ever since I figured she could move and jump all on her own and hence have the ability to freak people out because she was something that could very well get to places on her own without any help. The fact that she was a bug might have contributed to freaking people out as well.
She was a substitute for a live pet, during a time when I couldn’t even dream of considering a live actual pet. She was such a comfort when I was paralyzed by existential crisis. Her transparent fluorescent yellow-green shell scuttling across the floor a joy. My obvious “quirky” subject for my first Snapchat.
Unfortunately, like all toys, Hexa was soon deported to the cupboard when more important things in life like work and future plans and traveling took place. Things once gone into the cupboard rarely ever see the light of day unless it’s cleaning time. So after quitting my job, as I was clearing up I stumbled across her. My heart filled with joy and nostalgia on finding her, and promised a place of prominence on my workdesk after moving.
A 20 hour trip and a couple of days later, I unpacked my backpack to set up my workspace, taking Hexa out to show her off, and place her on the top right in front of me as promised. Thought she might want to scuttle around a little bit, freak my mom out maybe, and pressed the tiny tail-lever. Silence. I fumbled with the switch a couple of times, moved the gears around. Still nothing happened. My beloved Hexa was dead, after many months of not taking her out. An end among firsts.
Hexa maybe dead for now, but she still occupies a prominent place on my desk, in this publication, and in my heart. She will hopefully come back to life, if I can find a good mechanic in this town who can fix robots, but until then she will be around among pens, pencils and rulers beside my laptop right in front of me reminding me of this lesson —
Do not take the things you care for for granted. Whether it is a relationship, an expensive electronic toy, a hobby, or something abstract. Keep using it, keep tampering with it, keep in touch. You never know when dormancy can lead to death.
