🤖 Biscuit Rides the Robot

The Popplewell family bought a robot vacuum cleaner. It was round and flat, and it beeped, and it rolled around the floor all by itself, gobbling up crumbs.

Biscuit the cat did not trust it. When it rolled toward her, she jumped onto the sofa and stared at it with enormous eyes. "Beep boop," said the robot, and bumped gently into the sofa leg.

For three days, Biscuit watched it from high places. The bookshelf. The windowsill. The top of the fridge. The robot just kept rolling around, humming happily and collecting dust.

On the fourth day, Biscuit was feeling brave. When the robot rolled past, she reached down and tapped it with one paw. It kept going. She tapped it again. It turned around. "Hmm," said Biscuit.

Then she did something nobody expected. She jumped right on top of it! The robot hummed along, carrying Biscuit around the living room like a tiny, slow car.

Biscuit sat up very straight, like a queen on a parade float. The robot went under the table, and Biscuit ducked. It went around the chair, and she leaned into the turn. It bumped into the wall, turned around and kept going. "Beep!"

The children came in and burst out laughing. "Biscuit's driving the robot!" They tied a little paper flag to her tail and cheered as she went past. "Go, Biscuit, go!"

From then on, every time the robot started up, Biscuit jumped aboard for her daily ride. And when it went back to its charging station, she curled up on top of it for a warm nap, purring along with its gentle hum.