The Putterer

Harvey Wilkins smoothed out his janitor's outfit, wiping sweat from his brow. Although his face was wrinkled, he still held on to his determination and curiosity for inventing something amazing, something to prove to himself that he was still there, still alive after all his years of defeat. It's been forty-eight years of trying out ideas, and forty-eight years of failing each and every one of his crazy experiments.

For most of Wilkins' life, his hair had been a light brown, almost blonde color, but it was now starting the slow transformation from brown, to silver, to gone. Although there were wrinkles on his face, and silvers in his hair, Wilkins' eyes still twinkled with the light of curiosity. He was once a bright inventor, the brightest in his year, but he was now a lowly janitor for one of the high schools dotting Oklahoma.

For the past decades, the world has been slowing down the amazing creations or discoveries in the world, and now, the it's stuck. If the population continue living like this, humans will run out of the fossil fuel most of the world's inventions run off of. Wilkins hated this, hated how the human race built their world upon a nonrenewable substance. He wanted to change the way the world worked, he wanted to invent something that can really make a difference.

When Wilkins completed mopping the floor, he continued on his way out. It had been a normal day so far, he woke up on time, he arrived at the school on time, he cleaned the school that all the students had left a revolting looking, and smelling place. Thinking that he would continue his routine for the next four or five years until he died, he headed to the parking lot, locking up as he went.

By the time Wilkins made it to the lot, the sky had become streaked with magnificent shades of red, pink, and purple. The trees were glowing with the rusty orange of October. It was a beautiful sight, and as he climbed into his car, Wilkins thought to himself, Maybe today will be the day, the day I do something amazing. It was a doubtful thought, but it was encouraging. Wilkins inserted the keys into the ignition, and the car rumbled to life. Wilkins took off, a black puff of smoke trailing from his car.

After a short car ride and a couple rounds of pushing his car up the hills, Wilkins returned home. By this time, the sky had already turned a deep purple, and was dotted with stars. In the distance, the creatures of the night buzzed with life. Wilkins opened the door to his home and stepped inside. He scooped up Choppy, his pet hamster, and walked forwards. Immediately to his front was a hallway, leading off to the rest of the house. The floor creaked as the aging man made his way to the living room, and took a seat on the soft armchair, setting little Choppy on his lap. When Wilkins had first bought this house, this room was bright and colorful, but now the living room had become a dark place with junk scattered over the floor. Wilkins sat in the velvety armchair for what seemed like hours, drifting in and out of consciousness.

Throughout this time, Harvey Wilkins thought of different inventions he could attempt to create. Suddenly, he jumped up letting out a short shriek.

"I've done it! Oh, how I have done it! I have made a discovery that will change the entire universe!" Wilkins cried out, staring at the startled hamster that had been thrown to the floor.

Wilkins bent down, apologizing to Choppy before picking him up and rushing to his garage. This was the place where all of his dreams become reality, this was where he invented things. Although Wilkins was not a full time inventor, he enjoyed puttering. Wilkins ran to the table, placing Choppy on the hamster wheel bolted to the table, then pushing things over and off it to get it clear. The entire time he muttered to himself.

"So stupid. So, so stupid. No one ever thought of it! So simple. Just, just..."

He gathered the materials he needed and dumped them onto the table, he made what needed to be made, which was a rather large machine, that looked a lot like a misshapen fridge. He was about to turn it on, before stopping mid-move, thinking of what he had discovered. He picked up Choppy from the wheel and stared into his eyes.

"Oh, Choppy. Guess what I have done!" He cried to him, "I have created anti gravity! Do you know what this means? Of course you don't! You're a hamster! It means that you, me, the entire world can float, levitate, or even fly!" He twirled Choppy, and Choppy's tiny black eyes seemed to glare at him.

Wilkins settled back down in his seat, and placed Choppy on the table.

"But what will I do with this? Will I sell it for money, or fame? Or will I give the knowledge away for all of humanity to use, but if I do this, how will I know the people of Earth will use it correctly? Should I keep this information for myself, but, oh, that would be too greedy. Should I tell someone? Or not?" Wilkins rambled on and on as Choppy dozed away. "But first, I need to make sure it works!"

Wilkins pulled together all of his courage before flicking the switch of his machine. Automatically, the entire house was lifted in the air and shot up into space. Wilkins screamed, "TOO MUCH ANTI GRAVITY! TOO MUCH FORCE" before he and Choppy exploded.

Meanwhile, the mailman walked by, thinking to himself, I could have sworn there was a house here, hmm, Wonder what could have happened. The mailman continued on his day as normally as can be, and so did the rest of the world.