THE SPORTING ROBOT

      My name is Hua Fei and I am a sporting robot of the 23rd century. I am an expert at high flying exercises. I jump from spaceships and as I fall I turn, dive, circle and dance until I softly land as close as I can to the finishing line. Robot competitions in the23rd century are truly a popular sport. Fans from all over China watch their handheld TVs when a competition comes on. Last time I took part in the 78th Olympics on a flying island above Brussels in the sky. I won the silver medal for my performance.

     This year I had the honour to be chosen again. I wanted to meet robots from other countries and explore ideas about our sport. However, my programmer fell ill the week before we were going to leave. It was very painful for her and I felt very frightened. I no longer felt so confident that I would win.

    The day of the competition was rather cold for my legs and my special oil began to freeze. I paused before I jumped from the starting place on a little spaceship but then I began my performance. At the correct moment I tried to open my parachute but there was a problem. It only opened a little. Instead of flying softly to earth I began to fall faster and faster so that I could not turn, dive, circle or dance. My heart stopped beating as I landed heavily on a mountain covered with snow.

   This is why I am writing to you from my hospital bed with two broken legs and a fragile head. I did not win anything at the Olympics after all. I need the factory to build me two new legs and an even bigger head. Then I will be able to compete once more. Let's hope for greater success in the next Olympics!