Young Writers Society

~1100 words

Ivy watched as Grey filled a tank with water, adjusted a few knobs, and pulled on a cord several more times, the lights finally spluttered on. He heaved a relieved sigh and led Ivy and Nikki through the maze of machines in the workshop. They were big, hulking giants made of brass, bronze, iron, nickel, and all sorts of heavy metals. They looked so alien to Ivy. Pipes and gears and valves jutting out everywhere. Only a few were turned on, and they belched steam into the air at odd increments. The room was warm and moist with water vapor, and there was a sharp taste in the air, like copper.

“This one makes one bowler hat a day,” Grey said, pointing to one of the machines that was turned on. “And this one wards off ghosts.”

Ivy looked up at the massive iron invention. It was the size of the front room in her shop, and it was completely still and silent.

“But there aren’t any ghosts!” Nikki protested.

“That’s how you know it’s working,” Grey said with a wink. He moved to another invention. “Alder made this one to predict the future and create the future’s artistic masterpieces before the artists do. But all the work it’s done so far has been trash.” Grey picked up two canvases. One had paint splattered all over it with no seeming design, and one was just red.

Ivy giggled. “Either the future’s really weird about art, or that machine is broken.”

Grey shrugged. “This one catches the rare and deadly Tik-Toc beetle. One bite from one of those’ll kill you within the hour!”

“Oh no!” gasped Ivy. “Are there many in this workshop?” She hurriedly searched the floor for skittering death beetles.

Grey laughed. “Of course not! Alder says they’re native only to a small island off the coast of El Dorado.”

“Hm.”

“Oh don’t sound so skeptical Ivy! That machine could save your life one day!” Grey lowered his voice. “You never know what horrors the import ships carry with them.”

“Hey what does this do?” Nikki called from up ahead. She was standing by a table covered in smaller machines. She pointed to a riveted box that was featureless except for a single switch.

“I’m not sure,” admitted Grey. “Actually, I have no idea what that thing could do. I don’t even think Alder remembers what it does. I wouldn’t touch it if I were you.”

“Well then what about this one?” She pointed to a hunk of metal about the size of her fist.

“Alder was trying to make a cool decoration for his tropical fish, one that bubbled. But this one just killed the fish. He was heartbroken. I realized later that the machine removed the salt from the water. I tried to get him to see how helpful the machine was, but he just considers it a failure.”

“I’m sorry to hear about his fish,” Ivy said.

“It’s alright. I made him some mechanical fishes, and he seemed pretty pleased by them. At least it means he won’t spend an absurd amount on new tropical fish anymore. I swear he’d have to buy new ones every other week. He’d use them as test subjects or forget to clean their cage or feed them. He built an automatic-fish-feeder-tank-cleaner, but it ended up making canned ‘tuna’ instead. That was a dark day.”

“Geez.” Nikki’s eyes were wide. “I guess those fish were a thoughtful gift. So have you made a lot of these machines?”

Grey’s expression soured. “No. I started my apprenticeship here when I was really little, but by the time I was old enough to make big inventions like these on my own, Alder was consumed by this crazy-talk about darkness coming and yadda-yadda. I’ve only been able to tinker with some spare-parts.” Grey pulled a small contraption out of his pocket. It looked like a spider with ten silvery legs that all waved in the air. “This is Gidgit.” Gidget skittered up Grey’s arm and hid under his lapel, peeking out so it could still see Ivy.

“It almost seems… alive,” Ivy breathed.

“It’s kind of creepy,” said Nikki.

“Nikki!” Ivy said.

“What?”

“Don’t worry about her. I think Gidgit’s cute.” Ivy smiled.

“Well thanks, I guess,” said Grey.

“We should get going, Ivy,” said Nikki, beginning to walk toward the stairs they came in.

“If you’re leaving, it would be much easier for you to take the lift, now that we’ve got the electricity running. Or go out the front door.” Grey shrugged. “Either one. But I only leave out the back door. Fewer people around.”

“The lift sounds like fun!” said Nikki.

“Is it safe?” asked Ivy. “I’d kinda like to see the front door so I don’t have to climb that ladder ever again.”

“Oh the ladder wasn’t so bad. And there’s plenty of time to see the front door some other time. We can come back, right Grey? We’re a part of your team now, right?” Nikki looked pleadingly into Grey’s eyes.

“Of course. I can’t really believe you want to stay. Alder’s crazy, you know?”

“That just means it’ll be even more exciting! I’m ready for the lift!” Nikki grinned.

--

Standing on the platform, Ivy felt unsure. “You sure this can hold our weight?”

“Positive. It’s held the weight of some of those machines in the warehouse, and trust me, they weigh a lot more than you. I’m pulling the lever!”

“Wait!” shouted Ivy.

“Too late!”

The platform jolted, and Ivy almost fell over. She wished the platform had walls, or even just a railing to cling to. And the stairwell was so high... She tried to cling to Nikki, but she pushed Ivy’s hands away.

“You can’t hold onto me. If you fall, you’d bring me with you too,” Nikki hissed.

Grey called after them, “See you girls on Tuesday! We have meetings Tuesday and Thursday nights, and all day Saturdays. If you can make it! Bye!”

Too terrified to speak, Ivy just moaned a farewell, but it was lost in the grating, shrieking sound of the lift. It seemed to crawl on forever, but Ivy was glad she didn’t have to climb back up the millions of steps. Just when she had calmed down to a reasonable fear-level, the lift stopped with a jolt and Ivy broke out into a cold sweat all over again.

They stepped out into the night air, and the crescent moon grinned at them once again, as if it knew all about the mysterious machines beneath the city.