The family were clustered in hushed conversation in the hall. An arm emerged from the melee and pushed little Ada towards the large oak door. She sighed and reached for the large door knob. An age tarnished brass plate proclaimed the room as the 'Laboratory and dayroom of Professor Arlo Grint'. It took both hands to twist the handle and the heavy door swung gently open. The family held their breath.
The Professor sat hunched in concentration over his ink stained notebook. He barely noticed little Ada, his niece, as she entered. Ada paused to glance around at the heavy laden shelves of the Professor's laboratory, she loved it here.
'Uncle Arlo' she asked tentatively, the Professor muttered to himself, lost in his thoughts.
'Uncle Arlo' she said a little more insistently.
The Professor swung round startled 'Why Ada, my dear, what brings you here? Is everything alright?'
'Yes Uncle well......' She was trying to choose her words carefully, but the Professor broke her train of thought.
'Are you here to see my newest invention? My telegram must be causing quite a stir? I fear the Ministry of Defence may take an interest'
Ada shook her head, not having the heart to mention that the telegram still lay on the kitchen table. The family could not bring themselves to tell him that telegrams no longer operated. She pulled out a carefully folded letter from her pocket and began to read.
'Dear (Uncle) Arlo, this is an intervention.' She paused looking for any comprehension in the Professors eyes yet he continued to stare at her, now a little bewildered.
'The family believe that your inventing days should draw to close for the sake of your own and our sanity.' As she continued reading she resented her mother more and more for making her do this.
'Furthermore your recent incidents with both Air Traffic Control and the Fishmongers Guild have brought considerable stress and not to mention embarrassment to the family'
The penny had finally dropped and the Professors kindly demeanour faded.
'.....They think I'm a fool - I'll show them that I'm a brilliant crazy fool' the Professor answered with a surprising amount of determination in his voice.
A little perturbed Ada continued reading.
'The family wishes to restructure this laboratory into a gentle reading room where you can enjoy weekly games of scrabble with Doris, your next door neighbour. If you agree to these measures then the family will be more than content to withdraw your upcoming psychiatric support'
'Psychiatric support? What on earth could that possibly mean?'
Ada lowered the letter, I think it means mother has organised a short stay in the local old folks home for an 'evaluation'
'But they just don't understand, dearest Ada, you need a little madness in order to achieve greatness, surely you believe in me?' The Professor searched the young girls face.
Ada was now deeply conflicted and could feel her resolve weaken 'If only there was one invention we could show them, one thing that would make them see, Uncle'.
The Professor excitedly jumped to his feet, 'Well of course there is, my most recent work' and he motioned to a fairly large object with a heavy mottled rug slung over it.
They both moved closer to the hidden object and the Professor with some aplomb whisked off the rug.
'Stand back now, I wouldn't want that 'hair' to catch fire again' he warned stroking his eyebrows protectively trying to dispel an unpleasant memory, hoping Ada had long forgotten the misadventure of an earlier birthday gift.
Ada looked at the contraption on the bench. It was a mesmerising tangle of cogs, delicate valve transistors and cabling.
'It's beautiful' exclaimed Ada 'but Uncle what does it do'. The Professor stroked his chin thoughtfully, 'I am not totally sure, I haven't switched it on but my calculations suggest something....remarkable, I was expecting a reply to my telegram before I dare switch it on, the theoretical physics faculty deserve a first look'
'Perhaps now would be a good time Uncle?' Asked Ada hopefully and not without a little skepticism. The look of uncertainty across the Professors face was quickly replaced by a steely determination.
'Lets do it' and he reached for a rather delicate looking piece of headwear that he placed carefully onto his head.
'Shall we invite the rest of the family in?' He asked loudly, for the benefit of those listening behind the door. The door spilled open and the remainder of the close family circle sheepishly filed into the room, gathering expectantly around the device.
Ada stepped forward and gave her Uncle a large hug 'Good luck Uncle'. He winked at her reached for the simplest of levers and flipped it. For a moment nothing happened then all of sudden there was an ethereal glow, a gentle hum and Uncle Arlo vanished.
There was a stunned silence.
Three weeks passed and despite all the enquiries by the relevant authorities, which turned out to be numerous, there was no trace to be found of Uncle Arlo. Ada sat in her bedroom staring at the ceiling, she missed her Uncle. The doorbell rang and Ada ran to answer it and was disappointed to find the postman, who was holding a shoebox sized package with her name on it. She grabbed it quickly and rushed up to her room to peel off the wrapping. Inside the box was a small brass lever mounted on a beautiful piece of wood. The accompanied note simply said one exciting word 'flip'. Ada held the box with two hands and flipped the switch.
Like a bubble bursting her Uncle appeared directly in front of her. He hugged her tightly and started babbling.
'Oh Ada, a magnificent future awaits, we have things to do you and I and its time to get to work' with that he held her hand took the little brass lever from her hand and flipped the switch twice and they both vanished.
