Dr Fixit (4481 - 4490)

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when we see them and bless the Big Hand

which made all, the minute and grand.

When I clicked ‘DONE’ and accessed my inbox,

I had loads of mail but for those with bucks

or potential of bringing bucks to me, I browsed.

Keenly watching, my aide’s interest was roused.

Now and then, I stopped to teach him

a thing or two and that brought a beam

to his face as the human universe

I let unfold before the eyes in his face.

 

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I didn’t forget my tuition to let him

garner more vocabulary in English and pidgin;

the two were intertwined here,

I made every session interesting and clear.

‘Like you already know,’ I said

to Crookedmouthit, my friend and aide.

‘The gadget we’re facing is a computer.

The keys I typed on mimic a typewriter

while it has a monitor like a television.

The typewriter makes words in printed form

 

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‘and the television aids us to see pictures, still

or moving, as they represent the real

and invented.’ I brushed the keys and said:

‘One is called key but “s” is placed

to it to show it’s more than one. “Keys”

is the plural.’ My aide repeated “key” and “keys”.

With the first, he raised one finger.

With the second, he raised more fingers.

‘But there are nouns that may refuse the “s”.

Example, mouse.’ I put him to the test.

                                                         

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‘Can you guess its plural?’ My aide racked

his brain and said, ‘Mouses.’ I typed

the word into the browser requesting

its plural. The answers came loading in.

We saw more of ‘mice.’ I pronounced it

and gladly imitating me my aide did.

So I strayed and said: ‘A louse

is a parasite that makes the hair its house

and feeds on the blood of its host.

Give me the plurals of “louse” and “house”,’ I coaxed

 

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my friend for apt answers to the words.

‘Lice and hice,’ Crookedmouthit did toss

the answer at me. ‘Lice is correct.

“Hice” for house is incorrect.

You add “s” to house. In every rule

in English, there is a role

for an exception. You must listen hard

to native speakers and read wide.

It’s the sure way to garner words and speak well

like the natives. You would also spell well

 

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‘checking words with the lexicon online

or with a hard copy.’ In due time

I knew Crookedmouthit would perform well.

Who walks with a maestro won’t dare to fail.

‘Importantly, a word could mean a thing

or more. A mouse,’ I said, pointing

at the right accessory of the computer,

‘helps us click on links and enter

commands into the system; and again,

a mouse is an animal that steals the grain.

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‘The computer keys are for sending commands

into the system while a tenant demands

a key from his landlord to unlock the door,

dust the windows and sweep the floor

after full payment of the agreed rent.’

The nods of my aide’s head didn’t relent

for a long time. I scrolled down the page,

deleting every unwanted message,

opened every other one that did appeal

to read its contents. Then, the reel

 

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of spam I clicked each box after

perusing the subject and the sender

to check the mail by the service provider

wasn’t by mistake sent to the spam folder

as it happens at times when the robot’s brain

gets muddled as the emails in a long train

seem to ride in. I just said it!

I saw a mail with the subject: ‘Dr Fixit’.

The sender was Libby Freegate.

It was quite recent from the sent date.

 

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I opened the mail, sat back and perused it.

Crookedmouthit watched how I scrolled and read it.

‘Dear Dr Fixit, whatever the time,

day or night, whether moonlight or sunshine,

it’s good day from us. Here, the leaves on trees

have all been tinted with bright hues

and are spiralling down as autumn makes room

for winter, the season when snow would bloom.

Work on your script is charmingly in progress

and we’re above fifty percent in the process

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of getting the movie ready. In the next

eighteen months, as we keep giving our best

efforts and time, the flick would be ready.

Best wishes from Jim and me, Libby.’

I nodded and told my friend and aide

what in the mail I had just read.

You could see the excitement on our faces.

‘Dr Fixit’s’ progress in all the universes,

human and the soldier ants’, was going

up and up. In reply to her mail, I was doing