Confetti Wood

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A Shriek

It is midnight , and the mom is still awake; she is working on a new story as she hears a shriek from the next room, she winces and screams in fright , " Parmis."

Then she enters Parmis's room hastily, switches the light on, and looks at the little girl's face. The child is pale as if she got shocked, the mom sits on the edge of the bed, and kindly strokes the child's hair for a while.

Parmis says in a weak voice, " I had a nightmare about being second, my robot , Haft-Seen, was only one yard behind the winner robot, it was so terrible, Mom."

Her mother smiles softly, " But It was only a nightmare. Now sleep."
Parmis sits up in bed, and gazes at Haft-Seen with sorrow, " I fear of failure, Mommy."

" Everyone scares of this monster," the mom says as she helps Parmis lie down, then she continues, " But Parmis is so brave that  she can overcome the terror easily, Now close your eyes, and only think about your victory, OK? "

Turning off the light, she says, " Goodnight.", and leaves the child alone.

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A Challenge For Bright Students

Welcome, Here is Confetti Wood , where Google holds its one-day friendly competition for elementary school students. A few minutes ago, a big earthquake happened in the forest. Don't worry! In reality it was a simulated earthquake; now the rescue robots compete to find survivors and the victims distributed all over the arena.

Five robots have attended the tournament; competitors consist of  Apple pie, Cookie, Haft-Seen, Ice-Cream & Pancake. The robots are completely autonomous; they are also smart and strong enough to carry out their mission successfully.

There is a great deal of excitement , a lot of people have come to watch, all the students are preparing for the contest: one of the groups is consulting her mentor, and the others are checking their programming codes but Parmis, she is examining Haft-Seen for the last time.

Uncle Sergey is a nervous wreck, the robot doesn't work perfect; Haft-Seen overturns as it runs into a block, Parmis edits one code, and Haft-seen starts moving again, Parmis jumps up and down, the rival team says, smirking, " Little Girl! Don't get too excited-- May not you win the reward. "

Parmis frowns, she is somewhat numb with fear, Armis tries to encourage her, " It looks that you've lost your cool, Calm down, Parmis! I'm sure you'll win."
Parmis hugs her, "Thanks, Armis."

Uncle Larry says, " Let's listen to the sound of the waves."

They both walk on the beach for a while, and look at the blue ocean in silence; when Parmis feels calm, she comes back for the tournament happily.

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A wonderful Journey

All the teams place their robots on the top of hill, It is the start line; then competitors stare at Uncle Larry.

He shouts, " Attention, Please! The Robotic tournament is starting after my comments. The path of competition stretches to the witch cottage, it is at the end of Confetti Wood, the simulated victims, Stuffed animals, are disturbed throughout the path. Your robots should search and save them.

That Robot which will rescue more victims, and also reach the cottage sooner, it will win. None of the mentors or viewers don't allow to enter the track! I wish you a wonderful journey. Good luck!"

The hundreds colored balloons float across the sky, the viewers scream with excitement ; Rocky drops the flag, and the contest starts.

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The First Round

The land is covered in a thick layer of sugar, the white hill is shining in the sun beautifully, and the robots are moving on it slowly. Parmis is excited; Haft-Seen is searching into the sugar carefully; Uncle Sergey is keeping an eye on his trainee, he shouts constantly, " Come on! Come on!"

Finally, Haft-Seen finds a dove, Parmis shouts, " Oh, Great!", Haft-Seen carries the victim to the safe area, the mission is completed, Haft-Seen goes down the hill as quickly as it can, the children cheer the brave robot, because it is ahead of the others.

Now Parmis is calm, however, this round has gone down well. 

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A Lollypop Jungle

Just at bottom of the hill, the wood pathway begins, the lollypop trees are along both side of the  path, and the gumballs are all over the ground. Haft-Seen passes through the jungle without trouble, and finds a rabbit easily; Mino, Armis, Tina and Martin are clapping, Haft-Seen transports the stuffed animal to the safe point, Gee! the Apple pie is just behind it, Uncle Sergey looks worried, he shouts " Watch out! Watch out!"

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Drowning Dangers

The pathway leads to an ice-cream river, the stuffed animals floating seem tired and hopeless, Parmis wonders, " It's a big challenge for Haft-Seen."

I am with her; Swimming across a sticky melted ice-cream must be too tricky, but Haft-Seen succeeds; within 8 minutes it saves a teddy bear, and goes for the next round.
 
Haft-Seen is still leading, Parmis can hear the viewers' cheers, she feels proud. After the river, they show up a lake, a jello lake; Parmis holds her breath, the robot steps into the gelatin, and it goes forward to the middle of the lake, then it stops, Uncle Sergey yells, frowning, " Go on!"

Parmis feels confused, she does not know what to do, the robot got stuck in the gelatin, the little girl attempts to come it out, but any codes do not work as if the robot did not like to leave the lake; Uncle Sergey's face is red, he waves his hands, and tries to lead Parmis, however, his effort is not effective, Haft-seen is drowning gradually.

Apple pie, grinning, passes by Haft-Seen, Parmis turns her attention to the viewers, Uncle Sergey is fully disappointed with her, there is no smile on his face, and no light in the eye. But Uncle Larry smiles softly, and her mom along with friends asks her to try more.  

The robots, one after another go past Haft-Seen, and overtake it, and go away. Haft-Seen is up to its head in jello now, Parmis cries, " Don't Stop the music, Haft-seen, you can."

Uncle Sergey bangs on the fence, and shouts in anger, " She's very stupid."
Parmis's Mom stares at him angrily, " Who?--- I feel sorry for you, she's only eight!"
Uncle Sergey blushes, " Sorry! this is way over my head." Uncle Larry laughs at him, " Don't worry, I'm certain that she finds a way finally."

Parmis sits on her knees, hides her face in the hands, and starts weeping; Uncle Sergey is nearly passing out, he rises from his seat, and tries to climb over the fence to get into the track, but Rocky forces him to go back to his seat, Uncle Sergey cries, " She shouldn't surrender, I must help her." Gloria puts her hand on his back calmly,  " I understand you, but If you break the law she will remove ."

 At the moment, the crowd scream with laughter, Parmis lifts her head, and looks at Haft-Seen with surprise,  Wow! the fish is still alive, thanks God! her fearless robot has come on the lake with a turtle, Parmis dances about happily, and her friends whistle, and cheer Haft-Seen that  approaches the beach slowly, now it is too back, and its luck is too weak to win .

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Best Wishes

M.T

M.T