“Mom, do robots count as strangers?”

“Huh?”

“Do… Robots… Count… As… Strangers?”

Her mother finally looked up. “Oh. I… I don’t know.”

Susan rolled her eyes at her mother. She was only four, but she had seen her mother do that same thing over and over again to her father. It seemed the thing to do now. Even though she was not sure what the word was for what she was feeling.

“Well, it’s talking to me. And it’s holding my hand.”

Her mom answered even though she went back to looking at the book in her hand, “What’s talking to you, dear?”

Susan stomped her foot. “The robot!”

“That’s nice.”

“But should I answer it? Is it a stranger?”

Susan’s mother looked up. She appeared to think for a moment. She smiled. “I think it’s okay to talk to a robot. Even if it is a stranger.” Susan was about to talk to the robot when she saw her mother’s smile turn upside down. Well, not quite into a frown, but she had a look that Susan had come to know as her mother’s thinking look. “Unless, of course, the robot is not really a robot, but an animatronic that somebody is controlling.” Susan saw her mother looking around for something or maybe somebody.

“An anim-a-tronic? What’s that?”

“An animatronic is like a robot, but it’s controlled by somebody nearby. Somebody who can see and hear you. In that case, the robot isn’t really a robot. In that case, the robot is a stranger.”

Susan nodded. “Okay.” She turned to the robot. “Is somebody controlling you?”

The robot nodded up and down.

Susan ran to her mother screaming, “Stranger danger! Stranger danger!”

Susan felt the warmth and comfort of her mother’s embrace. She felt her body rise as her mother stood. She knew she was safe in her mother’s arms as she carried her away. Susan heard her mother’s calm voice say, “Let’s go get our books and go home.” Susan nodded agreement.

Susan was looking back over her mother’s shoulder at the robot as her mother walked away with her. The robot was looking up at her. Susan stuck her tongue out at the robot.

The robot did the same.