The Device
Mark continued his testing, elated that his machine was working so well, when suddenly a shout sounded from his kitchen, followed by the slamming of a door.
"Hello! Mr. Pensky. I'm here."
Mark groaned. He had forgotten Tommy. This has to be the worst unlucky day. First his annoying nephew, accompanied by an even more annoying friend, and now Tommy. He had totally forgotten, too, that the teenager would come today to mow his grass.
"Sup, Mr. Pensky," the skinny teenager with the unkempt dark hair asked, having entered through the back door without bothering to knock. He had a bag of chips in one hand and shoved one in his mouth. His expression changed as he looked around at the new machinery.
Laughing in a rude manner, the teenager cast a contemptuous glance around the lab. "Sup doc? Hows your frog food machine doing?"
Tommy had been present for an earlier test, and Mark might have mentioned that he hoped to do something to bring down the expense of feeding live food to an exotic pet.
Throwing another chip in his mouth, Tommy chewed with an open mouth.
"Tommy, I told you several times, it is not a frog food machine."
Tommy frowned. "Can't you call me Tom, Mr. Pensky? Tommy sounds so juvenile."
Mark felt the urge to respond with some obvious retorts, but he was still so pleased that the device was working. Suddenly, he had an idea. Why not impress Tommy with his success.
The teenager would be his first witness of his brilliant invention, which would change the world.
Of course, Mark remained blissfully unaware that Tommy didn't hold the greatest opinion of his nerdy neighbor. To Tommy, Mark Pensky was some weirdo, a shy, awkward moron, who doesn't seem to have a real job, and mostly wasn't so smart anyway.
Tommy put up with the huge nerd because the moron paid him to mow the grass or do little jobs like buying groceries or running errands. Even more, the man paid him so much for even the smallest jobs that could be done in a couple of minutes. So, Tommy was happy to "milk his moron" as best as he could.
While listening (not really listening at all, was like yeah yeah blah blah blah, in his head, shoing chip after ship in his mouth), scintist is like,
"Tommy, you wont believe this," Mark said."My invention... it finally worked! You have to see this."
"Yea, that is something I'd have to see to believe."
Even Mark detected the skepticism. "No, it's true," he responded. "This will change the world. You won't believe this!"
"Sure," Tommy said, but he rolled his eyes as soon as Mark turned his head, He felt a bit annoyed. He only needed to collect a quick "pay check." He had a appointment in about a half hour with his best friend. They were planning to go to the cinema to see Antman 2. While pretending to listen (not really listening at all) the uninterested teen interpreted all of Mark's excited words as "yeah yeah blah blah blah" in his head, shoving chip after ship in his mouth the entire time.
Not really listening much to what the crazy weirdo was saying about the strange device, Tommy was peering at a text message from his friend asking about their planned movie meeting.
"What do you think of that?" Mr. Pensky asked. "Amazing, right?"
Tommy, who had not looked at the demonstration, was texting back to his friend a promise to meet him in 20 minutes.
"Huh? What?" Tommy said. "Sorry, I was distracted."
"What?" Mark sounded miffed. "Didn't you see any of it?"
"See what?" Tommy asked.
Mr. Pensky waved a screwdriver in front of Tommy's face. "Here! I turned this sponge into a screwdriver!"
An awkward silence followed with Tommy's eyes moving back and forth between the table and the screwdriver being brandished triumphantly by his weird neighbor.
"Erm... sure thing," he said, eager to leave the conversation. "That was really cool, but I have to go now. Talk to you later..."
"Wait... let me change something else," Mr. Pensky said. "I can show you another..."
"Uhm, sure," Tommy said. "Maybe next time, ok?" He rolled his eyes and thought about what a loser his neighbor was.
"No, wait! Please," his neighbor said. "It really works."
"But why would anyone want to turn a sponge into a screwdriver?"
The question floored Mr. Pensky as he tried to think of a convincing answer.
"You wanna get my attention, turn yourself into something."
"Myself?"
"Yea," Tommy said. "This time I will look — I promise."
Thinking about it for a moment, not really wanting to do it, but feeling stupid in front of the teenager, and his ego punctured, Mark agreed to it. He took up a position in front of the machine after showing Tommy the working of the controls and what buttons to press and in what order.
He emphasized several times how the revert button worked. "That's the most important thing," he repeated once again.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," he said impatiently. "I have to go, so let's do it really quickly, ok?" He doubted it would work at all. Nothing else ever had.
The scientist in Mark had actually chosen something safe actually. He had programmed the device to subtract half of his size and then turn him back automatically in case Tommy messed up something.
"Ok? Ready?" Mr. Pensky asked the teenager, who was studying the screen, seeing the settings and thinking the view screen looks incredibly boring.
"Oh yeah... sure," Tommy replies. "Just a second."
He disturbed Mr. Pensky with his clicking around the keys, cancelling the change the scientist had ordered and choosing transformation, clicking through the list, noticing the entry marked "Grub" and laughing at the thought of turning his annoying moron of a neighbor into a pesky grub.
"Well, ready and waiting," Mark said in a slightly nervous voice. "I'll count us down...three...two...one..."
The device produced a beam of green light. "Cool effects, Mr. Pensky," Tommy remarked. "But I have to go..."
Tommy had zoned out after the device produced the brief illumination of green light and noticed his neighbor had disappeared. "Uh, hello?" Tommy said and walked across the room. "Uh... Mr. Pensky?"
He walked forward to the position where the scientist had been standing in front of the machine a moment ago. His worn out sneakers now standing just at the position as he looks around for any sign. Shoving another chip in his mouth, crunching down on it, little bits of chips raining down, as he tilts his head down and at that moment he slowly looks to the floor between his sneakers... and just an inch from his sole, he notices a tiny little grub.
Fuck! He had nearly stepped on the ugly thing. "Gross," he muttered, grimacing and lifting his shoe to stomp the loathsome little pest, but just before he was about to stomp down, it finally clicked in the teenager's inattentive brain.
"No way! Mr. Pensky?" Crounching down. "No fucking way...." Liittle bits of chips fly out of his mouth and drop down all around the wiggling grub. Using two fingers to pin point the little grub, lifting it, standing up, giving it a close look near his eyes.
"No! This wasn't supposed to happen!" Mark tried to scream at the teenager. "Tommy, what did you do?"
Tommy put the ugly "grub" on the desk. Suddenly, getting an idea for a great joke, he acted like he didn't know he had turned his neighbor into a grub.
Smirking down at the wriggling creature, he spoke aloud. "Maybe you would make a snack for Mr. Pensky's frog."
He pinched the tiny grub between thumb and finger.
Tommy carried the tiny grub toward the terrarium. "Dinner time," he said to the frog inside the glass enclosure. He felt the tiny grub squirming helplessly between his fingers.
He lifted the lid on the terrarium and actually lowered his hand into the steamy interior. At the last moment, he started laughing his ass off. "Sorry, but this is so funny!" The teenager removed his hand and put the lid back on the glass tank. "Seriously, did you think I was going to let your own frog eat you?"
The grub kept squirming, which was Mr. Pensky's only way to express his horrified outrage at the teenager's thoughtless actions.
"Let me turn you back, because I really have to go, but this was so cool!" Tommy said.
Mr. Pensky was still screaming in terror. He had seen the monstrous frog waiting for him on the gravel floor of the terrarium before Tommy pulled his hand back and announced he had been joking. He didn't know whether to be relieved or pissed.
Tommy put the the grub on the floor again, and then he returned to the machine while shoving another chip in his mouth. In that moment his stomach growled, and he took out a drinking bottle from his backpack. He then placed the pack on the floor near the door. Putting the bottle next to the controls after taking a sip from it, he diligently set the controls to reverse.
He was about to hit ENTER. In that moment he got another text message on his phone. With one hand, he pulled his phone out of his skinny jeans, looked at the display, and using the other hand was about to hit ENTER when he pushed over the open bottle.
"Ugh. Oh shit!" The liquid poured out over the display and controls. Error messages began flashing in urgent red letters and then Tommy heard a faint POOF as the device shorted out. The machinery's humming fizzled out and a noise like "SSSSHHHUUUhhhhhuuerrrgg...." sounded before the display went dark.
Tommy's response. A colossally understated, "Oops!"
"Hello! Mr. Pensky. I'm here."
Mark groaned. He had forgotten Tommy. This has to be the worst unlucky day. First his annoying nephew, accompanied by an even more annoying friend, and now Tommy. He had totally forgotten, too, that the teenager would come today to mow his grass.
"Sup, Mr. Pensky," the skinny teenager with the unkempt dark hair asked, having entered through the back door without bothering to knock. He had a bag of chips in one hand and shoved one in his mouth. His expression changed as he looked around at the new machinery.
Laughing in a rude manner, the teenager cast a contemptuous glance around the lab. "Sup doc? Hows your frog food machine doing?"
Tommy had been present for an earlier test, and Mark might have mentioned that he hoped to do something to bring down the expense of feeding live food to an exotic pet.
Throwing another chip in his mouth, Tommy chewed with an open mouth.
"Tommy, I told you several times, it is not a frog food machine."
Tommy frowned. "Can't you call me Tom, Mr. Pensky? Tommy sounds so juvenile."
Mark felt the urge to respond with some obvious retorts, but he was still so pleased that the device was working. Suddenly, he had an idea. Why not impress Tommy with his success.
The teenager would be his first witness of his brilliant invention, which would change the world.
Of course, Mark remained blissfully unaware that Tommy didn't hold the greatest opinion of his nerdy neighbor. To Tommy, Mark Pensky was some weirdo, a shy, awkward moron, who doesn't seem to have a real job, and mostly wasn't so smart anyway.
Tommy put up with the huge nerd because the moron paid him to mow the grass or do little jobs like buying groceries or running errands. Even more, the man paid him so much for even the smallest jobs that could be done in a couple of minutes. So, Tommy was happy to "milk his moron" as best as he could.
While listening (not really listening at all, was like yeah yeah blah blah blah, in his head, shoing chip after ship in his mouth), scintist is like,
"Tommy, you wont believe this," Mark said."My invention... it finally worked! You have to see this."
"Yea, that is something I'd have to see to believe."
Even Mark detected the skepticism. "No, it's true," he responded. "This will change the world. You won't believe this!"
"Sure," Tommy said, but he rolled his eyes as soon as Mark turned his head, He felt a bit annoyed. He only needed to collect a quick "pay check." He had a appointment in about a half hour with his best friend. They were planning to go to the cinema to see Antman 2. While pretending to listen (not really listening at all) the uninterested teen interpreted all of Mark's excited words as "yeah yeah blah blah blah" in his head, shoving chip after ship in his mouth the entire time.
Not really listening much to what the crazy weirdo was saying about the strange device, Tommy was peering at a text message from his friend asking about their planned movie meeting.
"What do you think of that?" Mr. Pensky asked. "Amazing, right?"
Tommy, who had not looked at the demonstration, was texting back to his friend a promise to meet him in 20 minutes.
"Huh? What?" Tommy said. "Sorry, I was distracted."
"What?" Mark sounded miffed. "Didn't you see any of it?"
"See what?" Tommy asked.
Mr. Pensky waved a screwdriver in front of Tommy's face. "Here! I turned this sponge into a screwdriver!"
An awkward silence followed with Tommy's eyes moving back and forth between the table and the screwdriver being brandished triumphantly by his weird neighbor.
"Erm... sure thing," he said, eager to leave the conversation. "That was really cool, but I have to go now. Talk to you later..."
"Wait... let me change something else," Mr. Pensky said. "I can show you another..."
"Uhm, sure," Tommy said. "Maybe next time, ok?" He rolled his eyes and thought about what a loser his neighbor was.
"No, wait! Please," his neighbor said. "It really works."
"But why would anyone want to turn a sponge into a screwdriver?"
The question floored Mr. Pensky as he tried to think of a convincing answer.
"You wanna get my attention, turn yourself into something."
"Myself?"
"Yea," Tommy said. "This time I will look — I promise."
Thinking about it for a moment, not really wanting to do it, but feeling stupid in front of the teenager, and his ego punctured, Mark agreed to it. He took up a position in front of the machine after showing Tommy the working of the controls and what buttons to press and in what order.
He emphasized several times how the revert button worked. "That's the most important thing," he repeated once again.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," he said impatiently. "I have to go, so let's do it really quickly, ok?" He doubted it would work at all. Nothing else ever had.
The scientist in Mark had actually chosen something safe actually. He had programmed the device to subtract half of his size and then turn him back automatically in case Tommy messed up something.
"Ok? Ready?" Mr. Pensky asked the teenager, who was studying the screen, seeing the settings and thinking the view screen looks incredibly boring.
"Oh yeah... sure," Tommy replies. "Just a second."
He disturbed Mr. Pensky with his clicking around the keys, cancelling the change the scientist had ordered and choosing transformation, clicking through the list, noticing the entry marked "Grub" and laughing at the thought of turning his annoying moron of a neighbor into a pesky grub.
"Well, ready and waiting," Mark said in a slightly nervous voice. "I'll count us down...three...two...one..."
The device produced a beam of green light. "Cool effects, Mr. Pensky," Tommy remarked. "But I have to go..."
Tommy had zoned out after the device produced the brief illumination of green light and noticed his neighbor had disappeared. "Uh, hello?" Tommy said and walked across the room. "Uh... Mr. Pensky?"
He walked forward to the position where the scientist had been standing in front of the machine a moment ago. His worn out sneakers now standing just at the position as he looks around for any sign. Shoving another chip in his mouth, crunching down on it, little bits of chips raining down, as he tilts his head down and at that moment he slowly looks to the floor between his sneakers... and just an inch from his sole, he notices a tiny little grub.
Fuck! He had nearly stepped on the ugly thing. "Gross," he muttered, grimacing and lifting his shoe to stomp the loathsome little pest, but just before he was about to stomp down, it finally clicked in the teenager's inattentive brain.
"No way! Mr. Pensky?" Crounching down. "No fucking way...." Liittle bits of chips fly out of his mouth and drop down all around the wiggling grub. Using two fingers to pin point the little grub, lifting it, standing up, giving it a close look near his eyes.
"No! This wasn't supposed to happen!" Mark tried to scream at the teenager. "Tommy, what did you do?"
Tommy put the ugly "grub" on the desk. Suddenly, getting an idea for a great joke, he acted like he didn't know he had turned his neighbor into a grub.
Smirking down at the wriggling creature, he spoke aloud. "Maybe you would make a snack for Mr. Pensky's frog."
He pinched the tiny grub between thumb and finger.
Tommy carried the tiny grub toward the terrarium. "Dinner time," he said to the frog inside the glass enclosure. He felt the tiny grub squirming helplessly between his fingers.
He lifted the lid on the terrarium and actually lowered his hand into the steamy interior. At the last moment, he started laughing his ass off. "Sorry, but this is so funny!" The teenager removed his hand and put the lid back on the glass tank. "Seriously, did you think I was going to let your own frog eat you?"
The grub kept squirming, which was Mr. Pensky's only way to express his horrified outrage at the teenager's thoughtless actions.
"Let me turn you back, because I really have to go, but this was so cool!" Tommy said.
Mr. Pensky was still screaming in terror. He had seen the monstrous frog waiting for him on the gravel floor of the terrarium before Tommy pulled his hand back and announced he had been joking. He didn't know whether to be relieved or pissed.
Tommy put the the grub on the floor again, and then he returned to the machine while shoving another chip in his mouth. In that moment his stomach growled, and he took out a drinking bottle from his backpack. He then placed the pack on the floor near the door. Putting the bottle next to the controls after taking a sip from it, he diligently set the controls to reverse.
He was about to hit ENTER. In that moment he got another text message on his phone. With one hand, he pulled his phone out of his skinny jeans, looked at the display, and using the other hand was about to hit ENTER when he pushed over the open bottle.
"Ugh. Oh shit!" The liquid poured out over the display and controls. Error messages began flashing in urgent red letters and then Tommy heard a faint POOF as the device shorted out. The machinery's humming fizzled out and a noise like "SSSSHHHUUUhhhhhuuerrrgg...." sounded before the display went dark.
Tommy's response. A colossally understated, "Oops!"