(Page 1 of 2) Superior Technology by Dan Bieger
 (3 ratings)
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SUMMARY: Entry in July flash fiction contest"She's a witch," explained Tommy. At ten years old, he considered himself an expert on such things as witches and was always more than willing to share his expertise with Conner, his 11 ½ year old buddy.
"Hain't no sech a thing as a witch. My daddy tol' me."
"Ah, but yore daddy hain't met with Elvira."
"And you hain't met wif no Elvira either."
"Have, too. You have, too. Here she comes right now."
"That hain't no witch; that's just Dolly."
Dolly, twelve years old, blonde, afflicted with ancient horn-rimmed spectacles, and smarter than the average boy, came marching down the sidewalk as if leading a ceremonial parade though no visible being trailed in her wake. Having long since spied her quarry, she proceeded directly to the confrontation.
"I bet," she said, "that I can make ‘lectricity out of just about anything."
Her pronouncement produced the expected objections from Tommy and Conner.
"Oh, that's just silly." Tommy said. "You can't make ‘lectricity out of plastic nor water nor marbles."
"I can," Dolly insisted, a knowing smirk playing at her lips. "If you boys bothered to study the arcana that I have, then you'd know that I can."
"Arcana?" Conner asked.
"Books, Conner. Magical books. Almanacs, lexicons, potionaries, elementaries, that sort of thing."
"Hain't never seen sech a book," Conner mumbled but Dolly ignored his near subvocal protest.
"We ain't buyin' it," Tommy announced.
"What if I could prove it to you?" Dolly asked, her manner more confident than Tommy could be comfortable with.
A little nervously, electricity could be dangerous after all, Tommy replied that "if she could prove it, why then a guy ‘d have to be stupid to go on disbelievin.' And he and Conner certainly weren‘t stupid. That much was pretty fair certain."
"You come over to my secret lab, then, and I'll just go ahead and prove I can make ‘lectricity from just about anything. In fact, you tell me what to make it from."
"Okay, you make it from some of Conner's hair."
Conner reacted poorly to this suggestion. "I didn't mean whilst it's still on yore poor ol' head, Conner. I meant we'd pull a few strands and..."
Conner didn't react any more positively to this version of his hair as an experiment than the previous. Dolly intervened: "You just come over to my lab and we'll decide there what to use."
Off they went, two peasants enthralled to the wonder the witch was spinning about them. Of course they did not truly believe Dolly's pompous claims but they had enough doubt in their souls that they were willing to tag along to see what happened next. The trio arrived in Dolly's back yard and climbed into the tree house resting in the huge oak tree that occupied most of the back yard. A sign neatly lettered "Elvira's domain" hung above the door. The ladder was rope, easily pulled up thereby preserving the secrecy of the interior's furnishing. Like the pair of two-shelf bookshelfs filled with plastic containers like those Tommy's daddy used to hold screws, nails, clamps, and other hardware as well as one shelf devoted to magical compendiums.
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