Imitate

Imitate is a short story set in the near future, intended to take about 15 minutes to read. A man who lost his lover in an accident several years earlier has been depressed and unable to move on. On an ordinary day, he decides to seek comfort in someone’s arms and say goodbye to the past.

He meets Sheryl, who introduces herself as someone chosen to serve him. He asks whether she is really a cyborg rather than a human, and she gives the usual answer. She may not be human, and perhaps no one wants to make her a “person.” For Sheryl and the rest of the world, the day is an insignificant moment in time; for him, taking this step means finding the courage to leave his illusions behind and begin again, as he promised himself.