The small girl took three soft steps closer to the towering velvet armchair.
Maya: Your boots look like robot legs from my comic book.
Dominic: They are not toys, little girl, so please step back.
Maya: Why do they have those big dark straps across your knees?
Dominic: They keep me sitting down so I do not fall over.
The young girl crouched down near the bottom edge of the black metal brace.
She carefully extended one small finger toward a bright silver dial on the side.
Dominic watched her with a mixture of annoyance and quiet curiosity in his mind.
Nobody ever dared to touch his medical equipment without his doctor's explicit written permission.
The small silver dial was clicking softly under her light, innocent fingertips right now.
Dominic: Do not touch him or that equipment, child.
Maya: But this little metal latch is stuck on the wrong side.
She pushed against the small silver pin with her small thumb very gently.
A loud sharp mechanical click suddenly echoed through the silent marble hall instantly.
Dominic gasped softly as a strange electrical pulse surged through his lower right foot.
He had not felt any warmth or sensation in his feet for three years.
A tall woman in a grey maid uniform rushed frantically into the white room.
Her face was completely pale with pure terror as she saw her daughter kneeling.
Clara: Maya, get away from there right this second, please!
Clara: Run back to the kitchen, I am so sorry, Mr. Val!
The housekeeper grabbed her daughter's tiny arm and pulled her back very quickly.
She dropped down onto her knees on the cold floor before her wealthy employer.
Clara: Please do not fire us, sir, she is only seven years old!
Dominic: Wait, Clara, let the little girl speak for just one moment.
Dominic's blue eyes were wide with pure shock as he stared down at his toes.
A tiny tingling feeling was spreading rapidly up through his right ankle right now.
He looked directly at the brave little girl standing behind her kneeling mother.
Dominic: What did you just push on that metal joint, child?
Maya: The shiny part was turned outside, so I pushed it back in.
Maya: It looked like the lock on my granddad's old garden gate.