Clark leaned over the table in his father's shed fiddling with a small piece of machinery. He smiled to himself as he fitted in the last piece. If he was lucky it wouldn't explode this time. While he usually enjoyed such things, the enjoyment was dulled when it was in his hands and adding new burns for his mother to worry about.
He carefully set it into the fitting in the rest of the machine on the table, then quickly backed away behind an over turned table and pressed a button. He was relieved when it softly began to steam and all the right bits began to move. He flicked it off and grinned. It wasn't much of an advancement for science, just a novelty piece, but he hoped Elsie would like it. His tail flicked happily at the thought of her, and he had to resist the urge to grin like a fool.
He glanced up at the remarkably working clock over the door, and swore softly. He was late! He quickly gathered up his contraption and put it in a box then scurried off to meet his sweetheart.
