Christmas With Hover Hill

Christmas With Hover Hill

By

Fay Risner

Published by Fay Risner At Smashwords.com

Copyright 2014

This ebook is licensed for your personal
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Cover Art

All Rights Reserved 2014

Fay Risner

photo taken by Fay Risner

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places
and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or
used fictitiously, and any resemblance to the actual persons,
living or dead, business establishments, events or locals are
entirely coincidental. Excerpts from this book can not be used
without written permission from the author.

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Christmas With Hover Hill is for Verna Dawson. She
loved the concept of this obnoxious robot and professor living
together. She encouraged me to turn my short story into a book but
assured me the book would sell better if it contained a romance

Chapter One

Elizabeth Winston drummed her perfectly manicured
fingernails on the varnished walnut strip that ran along the top of
the couch arm. Why was she so keyed up? Right after dinner, she'd
curled up with a book and a glass of wine with the intention to
relax. This wasn't working. She didn’t seem to be able to
concentrate. She dropped the book in her lap after she reread page
forty over and over and still didn't comprehend what she read. That
left her nothing to do but finish her glass of wine and think.

Surely her job wasn't bothering her. She was always
eager to start her day as a literary professor at the university.
Although, she should be thankful for her fulfilling profession
since her personal life was in a deep rut. That was the extent of
her life right now, good job and rotten personal life. She'd faced
the blunt facts about that a long time ago.

The simple truth was she wanted to spend her evenings
alone. Didn't she? Absolutely, she did. A safe and dull life was
better than getting hurt by another man again.

In what seemed like eons ago, she'd led a much
different lifestyle from the sedentary, predictable, daily routine
she had now. Her quiet, nonexistent social life formed after Steven
Mitchell, a college law professor and computer whiz, left town and
her. About then Elizabeth decided if she didn’t want to worry about
getting close to another man, she’d be better off not dating.
Repeatedly, she turned down offers of a night out until the offers
quit coming.

On weekdays, she conducted her classes, trying to
indoctrinate into the youth of the Midwest the need to appreciate
the written word. Evenings, after a quick simple dinner if she
could call it that, she planned the next day’s lessons and went
over assignment papers. Soon after that, it was her bedtime.

Most Saturdays, Elizabeth shopped for necessities and
the groceries for the next week in the morning. After lunch, she
did the housework. Walking to church on Sunday morning year around
was her only exercise. She dined out after services so she’d
consume one decent meal a week. She knew her diet of snacks weren’t
good for her health, but she didn’t like to waste her time cooking
for one.

Weekend evenings, Elizabeth usually indulged herself
if she didn't have papers to grade. She spent the time curled up on
the couch with a book and a glass of wine. That's when she tried to
keep abreast of new novels as well as reading the classics. Once in
a while when she shopped at Target, she couldn’t resist the
temptation to smuggle home a Danielle Steele or a Nora Roberts
romance. She excused her choice of reading material with the idea
she needed to be versatile with her reading.

Not that this tiny transgression made up for the lack
of companionship in her life. It would be nice to have a man around
once in a while. Actually, she repeatedly argued with herself that
she enjoyed the change of pace reading. Besides, with Christmas
closing in on her, she excused, she just didn’t want to concentrate
on heavy material.

At holiday time, Elizabeth felt depressed by the
crowds in the stores. She deemed it a good thing she didn’t have to
get out to do any last minute shopping. Early on when she did her
shopping, people shoving and cutting other shoppers off with their
shopping carts to get to the bargains was the norm. Aggressive
behavior like that made her wish for Christmas to be over and done
with. That's how much she hated confrontations of any kind.

Christmas! Christmas was coming. That thought kept
scrolling through her mind. Maybe that’s what had her so antsy. The
eager anticipation of spending time with her brother, Scott. He
always showed up like Santa Claus reincarnated right down to the
ho, ho, ho. She couldn't fathom how he managed all that
cheerfulness and good will during the holidays. It wasn't inherited
from their parents, but his holiday enthusiasm did rub off on her
when he was around.

There certainly hadn't been any such holiday cheer
when Scott and her were children. All she remembered was the
Christmas swaps done by her divorced parents. Not of gifts. Just
their children. One year, Elizabeth spent the holiday with her
father while Scott stayed with their mother. The next year, the two
of them swapped parents.

They were always stuck with grownups during the
Christmas break and back in their mother's house in time for
school. For Scott and her it was a lonely experience. Their
overachieving parents were more interested in entertaining friends
and business associates than spending time with their children.
When they were teenagers, Scott and she vowed when they grew up
they would always spend Christmas together without their
parents.

The door bell buzzed at the same time the grandfather
clock chimed eight times, interrupting her concentration. Elizabeth
called, “Who’s there?”

“
UPS delivery man,” came the muffled male
voice.

Elizabeth peeked out the window. The street light
bathed an UPS truck. Didn't those delivery men ever get to go home?
She looked through the peek hole. Sure enough a man in a brown suit
was staring at the door. Beside him was a six feet by four feet
cardboard box. Elizabeth opened the door and pointed at the box. “I
didn't order anything that large. What is it?”

“
No idea, lady. I just deliver. Your address is
on the box so it's yours. Sign here,” he said briskly, shoving a
clipboard at her.

“
It looks heavy.” Elizabeth sized up the box.
“Could you carry it in for me?”

“
Sure thing.” The man tipped the carrier up and
tugged the box inside. He stopped and slid the box off just far
enough in the room that the door would close. “There you go, lady.
Have a good night and Merry Christmas.”

“
Thank you. Merry Christmas to you, too.”
Elizabeth shut the door and turned back to the box that stood a
foot taller than she was. An envelope was taped next to her
address. She ripped it out of the clear packing tape and tore it
open.

Dear Beth,

It would seem my protests for you not to work so hard
and have more fun have fallen on your very deaf ears so I have a
Christmas present for you that you can’t possibly resist. Please
open the box for further instructions.

I’ll be seeing you soon.

Merry Christmas,

Love,

Scott

Elizabeth brought a sharp knife from the kitchen and
sliced down one corner on the front of the box. She finished
cutting the other corner and across the top, stuck a finger in the
slit and pulled out. The cardboard slab fell to the floor.

Her mouth gaped open. She stood transfixed for a
moment, staring in the box cavity. Once her initial surprise was
over, she backed up. “Who ---who are you?”

Her gift, from her brother, was a blond haired man in
black slacks and a long sleeve, blue dress shirt. His eyes were
closed as if he was asleep. He didn't move. In fact, he didn't
appear to be breathing.

Elizabeth stepped back in front of him. “Hey, wake
up,” she snapped, shaking his right shoulder. His shoulder was very
cold and hard to the touch. She jerked her shaky hand away and
patted her thumping chest. Her gaze fixated on the man as she took
a deep breath.

How awful is this? Why would Scott
think it was a good idea to send me a dead man in a cardboard
coffin? He felt as if he was in full rigor mortis already. This
wasn't a Christmas gift. It was an awful hoax.
“My
brother has a very sick, weird sense of humor,” she mumbled in a
trembling voice. “Wait until I get my hands on him.”

Taped to the chest of the inanimate stranger
was another envelope. Elizabeth reached out and snatched it. She
backed across the room and leaned against her bedroom door facing.
That was as far as she could get from the box and still keep an eye
on the body.
Scott better have an
explanation in this letter that makes sense
, she
thought as she ripped open the letter.

Merry Christmas Beth,

By now you have met Hover Hill, the robot. I promise
once you liven him up he's great company. He’s the perfect
Christmas gift from me to help you take care of yourself while you
work. No end to his house boy talents; cooking, laundry and
housekeeping.

Perhaps, you might find more time to socialize with
friends while Hover Hill holds down the fort at your apartment.

I found Hover Hill at an experimental
electronic show in Las Vegas last week. By the way,
HILL
stands for helper on lower
levels. That's because he doesn't climb stairs without help. I
don’t want to hear about the expensive price tag on Hover Hill. If
he works out for you, it will be worth every penny he cost me to
know that I don’t have to worry about you. Now just find the switch
in the middle of his back and turn the robot on. No more
explanation needed from me. He will take care of that. Enjoy my
Christmas gift.

Love ya,

Scott

Elizabeth eased behind the couch to study the robot
from a safe distance. He looked so real and so lifeless. Scott’s
letter slipped from her fingers to the carpet as she edged around
the couch toward the box.

She probably should feel foolish for thinking her
brother would send her a dead man for a gift. Wait a minute!
Jumping to that conclusion wasn't all her fault. She had a right to
be angry. Scott should have given her a heads up that the body was
a robot. It would have saved her from being scared out of her wits.
Of course, he knew if he explained ahead of time she wouldn't
accept his gift.

The idea raced through her mind,
What am I going to do with this robot? This
apartment is barely large enough for me. I really don't need him. I
don't even want him in my way.

Elizabeth poked his cold arm, hanging limply by his
side. Quickly, she drew her hand back. He still seemed all too real
and too much like a dead man. Finally, Elizabeth raised the right
arm toward her and gently tugged on it. Hover Hill leaned slightly
forward. That wasn't a good idea. He'd fall out of the box if she
pulled on him again. She reasoned, he stood a head taller than her.
He probably weighed too much for her to stand back on his feet by
herself.

No way did she want to put in a call to the apartment
manager for help. She'd have to try to explain what she was doing
with this handsome, lifelike man in her apartment. Anything she
said would probably sound like fabricated excuses to that perverted
man. He reminded her of the dirty old man on Laugh In. She didn't
have any more to do with him than she could help.

She glanced behind the robot's shoulder. Taped to the
back of the box was a garment bag. She eased down the zipper and
noted the hanger held three shirts in various colors and slacks to
match. Great! Scott had given her a man size Ken doll complete with
wardrobe. She didn't have any intention of undressing and
redressing this all too real looking robot. She'd add that to the
growing list of news flashes for Scott when she demanded he take
back his Christmas gift.

Making a quick search for the switch, Elizabeth edged
her hand along the back of the robot's shirt. She discovered the
small lump protruding in the middle of his flat back. She flicked
the switch. The whine of the robot's motor revved up instantly. His
eyelids fluttered then opened wide. Elizabeth was struck by the
fact he had very pretty blue eyes.