Glitch

He was nothing but a flash of images and thoughts. The dark haired man with a scruffy look, who was he? Anita did not get why she saw him appear only as if in the corner of her eyes. He was a glitch on her artificial mind… and yet she felt as if he meant something to her. That in itself was odd, for her programming did not allow her emotions, did it? Then what was he?

Anita did the washing and the cleaning; told bedtime stories, if Laura did not mind, too. That was how she was programmed. She served one family in the way her primary owner and secondary owners instructed. Joe, Laura, Mattie, Toby and Sophie Hawkins… they formed her prime reason for existing. They were why she was activated one morning some weeks ago.

But then why did her code allow for such a transgression, and more to the point why did she feel it important to hide these flashes of dark, cold water? No matter how she searched her database of facts she could not find any information. Most odd!

The fleeting images though did not hold. His hand slipped from hers and that was it; he was gone. Her programming corrected itself as if he had been nothing but a glitch. Anita felt relieved, for now it seemed she was not faulty and she could stay with the family.