"Do Androids Dream of William Wordsworth": A Drabble

So, the other day, I came across something that I'd completely forgotten I'd submitted that went live back in [*checks notes*] January, and I figured I'd share it with you all here.

Towards the end of 2021, I began experimenting with a form called the Drabble. For those unfamiliar, that's a piece of flash fiction that's exactly 100 words in length, not including the title. While I'm by no means accomplished in this form, I did enjoy the challenge. I figured I'd gotten a 42-word story accepted to an anthology (which is forthcoming in the near future), surely I can manage with over double that, right?

One of my first attempts was this piece "Do Andorids Dream of William Wordsworth." Science Fiction fans will note the allusion to PKD's novel, and poetry peeps will recognize Wordsworth's name. It was born out of this simple question: how could you tell if a humanoid robot (aka, an android), was truly intelligent.

This was my creative answer. Enjoy.

"Do Androids Dream of William Wordsworth?"

I feared Edison would fail the final test. If he did, the project directors would wipe him. Artificial intelligences imitated, but true intelligences created; that was his test.

For hours, he scribbled, scratching his synthetic scape, tapping the desk with his fingertips. I sat in the corner, waiting anxiously. Finally, he set down his pen. “I’m finished.”

He handed me the paper, and it read:

“I dream of the sun’s rays, so warm and bright,

I dream of the moon’s beams, so cold and white,

 I’ve never seen either in all my days,

But hope to before my body decays.”