The Robot Chronicles

A Word from Jason Gurley

I’ve always wondered what the apocalypse might look like in a snow globe. That’s what The Caretaker is, in a way: the end of the world, seen from afar. Alice can watch in horror as it plays out, but she can’t affect it, can’t stop it, can’t undo it. She’s detached from her fellow humans, left to endlessly circle a ruined planet, alone, only her artificial companion for company.

The Caretaker began a few years ago as a script for a short comic. I worked with an artist, the very talented Tony D’Amato, who brought Alice to life. It was a spare-time project, one we never managed to cross the finish line with. This year, while I was on a short story kick, the idea came back, and I couldn’t resist taking it for a spin once more. It’s a lovely little curiosity, I think, a story that almost begs to keep telling itself.

I can’t tell you if that will ever happen, or what might happen next to Alice and Eve. I kind of like it that way. The world may have ended, but Alice is on the cusp of a beginning.

If you enjoyed the story, I hope you’ll check out my other work at jasongurley.com.