Pling and the Button

It was mid-morning when Mira snuck into Aunt Saga's Idea Shed. The room was bright and cheerful and smelled of screws and apple juice. On the benches, small lights blinked. Something hummed, something beeped. On a shelf stood a box with a silver label: PL1-NG.

Mira lifted the lid. Inside lay a small robot, round as a muffin tin. It had two big eyes that gleamed and three buttons on its belly – one blue, one yellow, and one red. The robot shook and said: "Pling!"

"Hi!" said Mira and smiled. "Who are you?"

"Pling, pling! I'm Pling," answered the robot with a happy, beepy voice. Its small wheels rolled back and forth. Aunt Saga stuck her head in the door and waved.

"You can try it on the mat," she said. "There's a little picture guide in the box."

Mira put Pling down on a blue mat. She looked at the three buttons. "We'll start with the blue one," she whispered and pressed gently.

Pling hummed and glowed. A soft buzzing filled the room. A light trail drew itself on the mat, like a little road. Small light fish appeared and swam on the floor. "Oh!" said Mira. She and Pling followed the light path around the bench and back again. Pling's wheels beeped when it turned: "Beep-beep, left! Beep-beep, right!"

"The yellow one now?" asked Mira. She pressed. Pling stretched and listened.

"Say something," peeped the robot.

"Hello there!" said Mira.

"Hello there, there, there!" mimicked Pling and added a bubbly, singing voice. Mira giggled and sang loudly: "Pling, Pling, pliiing!" The robot answered: "Pling, Pling, pliiing!" in three different voices. They laughed so their bellies bounced.

Mira looked at the red button. Next to it was a small picture with a sun and grass. In the picture guide it said: "Red button – outdoor play!" Mira nodded. "We're going out."

They rolled out to the park behind the Idea Shed. It smelled of wet grass and freshly peeled oranges from the children's juice cups. Pling blinked happily. "Ready?" asked Mira. Pling's eyes sparkled.

Mira pressed the red button. "Pling-pling-PLONG!" sounded the robot. From a small hatch spurted soft foam, white and playful like whipped soap. It became a small foam hill, then a foam mountain! Children ran forward and squealed with laughter. "Look! Foam hats!" said someone and put a foam hat on their head. A squirrel got a little foam mustache and looked very important.

Pling spun happily. Suddenly it hiccupped. "Hic... pliiing! Hic... pliiing!" The foam gushed faster. It rolled over the path like a bubbly flood and began to climb up on a park bench.

"Oops," said Mira and jumped aside. She remembered the picture guide. She fished out the little paper booklet from her pocket. There was a picture of a heart on Pling's back and the words: "Calm button. Press and count to three."

Mira patted Pling on the shell. "It's okay. We'll try." She found the little heart button and pressed. "One... two... three." The foam slowed down. Pling took a beeping breath. "Phew. Pling." The hiccups disappeared.

Aunt Saga came out with a watering can and laughed. "What a party! We'll rinse away some so it's just right." Together they rinsed away the foam where it was in the way. The rest they formed into a little slide. The children took turns sliding on a piece of cardboard, carefully and giggling.

Pling blinked contentedly. "Outdoor play: succeeded!" it beeped.

"You're fantastic," said Mira. "Maybe we can put a little sign next to the red button."

Aunt Saga pulled out a roll of colorful stickers. Mira drew a sun, grass, and bubbles and wrote: "RED = FOAM FUN OUTSIDE!" She put the sticker next to the button. Pling looked proud.

"What shall we do next?" asked Aunt Saga.

Mira looked at the blue and yellow button, at the park, at the children who waved. "We can play foam music!" she said. "The yellow button can play our song, and the blue one can draw a light path to the slide."

Pling said: "Pling-tastic!" and spun around. The blue button painted a glittering path across the grass. The yellow button sang: "Pling, Pling, pliiing!" The children followed the path singing.

When the sun stood high and everyone was tired but happy, Mira sat down next to Pling. "We're a good team," she said.

Pling leaned carefully against her shoe and said softly: "Team Pling and Mira." And in the Idea Shed, on the shelf, waited new stickers, new ideas, and more buttons to discover – tomorrow.