Short Bedtime Stories Presents: Ben Ventor's New Vacation Invention

Short Bedtime Stories Presents: Ben Ventor's New Vacation Invention

"Mom," Fran began whining from the backseat of the Ventor minivan. "Peter's gonna puke."

    "Why do you always say, Mom?" answered Ben's mom. "Your father is sitting right next to me."

    Ben's mom always used the word "father" when she was annoyed with Ben's dad. Even though this was not necessarily his dad's fault, the frustration from Ben's mom came from years of the kids going directly to mom for their problems. Because Ben's dad was generally positive, he would always assume the kids' problems were not a big deal and that they should just forget their problem. This meant automatic turning to mom when problems arose.

    "Should we pull over?" Ben's dad asked knowing Peter's tendency to get car sick and ruin entire family vacations.

    "Unless you want to be cleaning throw up,” Ben’s Mom said annoyed, “for the next half hour, I would ..."

    Ben's mom did not need to finish her sentence. Ben's dad had already jerked the entire car over to the side of the road, nearly causing a problem bigger than cleaning up throw up.

    This ended up being a particularly good day for the Ventors, as it was the first day that Peter had actually made it outside of the car before losing his lunch.

    "Seriously, Mom," began Fran again. "Isn't there a faster way to travel to grandmas?"

    "We could walk," answered Ben's dad.

    This was meant to be sarcastic, but for Ben, it was the beginning of a new invention idea.  Immediately, Ben began to wonder if there was a better way to travel.

    Ben did not have most of the materials he needed in order to make his latest invention while he was on his vacation. However, by the time he got home, he already had the exact blueprints for how to make his new design.

Within just a few days of being home, Ben was at the breakfast table holding a clear screen with blinking red dots on it.

    "Watcha got there, Bud?" asked Ben's dad, more than a little curious to know if Ben had been tinkering with a new world changing invention.

    "If you come to your bedroom with me," Ben said, "I'll show you."

     It took no more than about 1/8th of a second for Ben's dad to be up from the table and moving toward his bedroom.

     "You coming, Fran?" Ben's dad called back to where he and she had been sitting together.

     "No thanks," she answered, not even looking up from her cereal.  "He completely soaked me the last time in the barn.  He's just gonna turn your head purple or grow your ears big or something."

     Ben and his dad arrived in the bedroom, and Ben walked over to the large mirror Ben's mom used to get dressed every day.

    "So what do we have?" asked Ben's dad, growing wide-eyed like he was ready to open a Christmas present.

    Ben pulled out his screen and pressed two of the red dots.

     "Follow me," Ben said.

    Ben's dad watched him confused. What came next really threw Ben's dad for a loop.  Ben lifted his leg and took a step directly into the mirror before them. By the time Ben had taken his second step, he completely vanished into the mirror. Ben's dad shrugged his shoulders as if to say "why not" and stepped into the mirror as well.

     As Ben and his dad had stepped into the mirror in Ben's house, they found themselves immediately, stepping out of the mirror in the bathroom of their ski slope in their back yard.

     "Whoa," said Ben's dad, looking over his body to see if he was all there. "What just happened, Ben?"

    "Look," Ben said, holding up his small computer screen with the blinking red dots.  "All of the red dots represent mirrors found in our area.  All you have to do is touch a red dot. The first dot you touch is the mirror you are going in at, and the second dot is the mirror you will come out at."

    "So touching the red dot on your screen makes the mirror ready to walk through?"

    "Yeah, the red dots on the screen turn mirrors into doors," answered Ben.

    "What if the mirror was in the middle of Washington DC or Africa, could you still go?" asked Ben's dad genuinely impressed.

    "If there is a mirror anywhere else in the world, you can travel to it instantly as long as you have a starting mirror yourself."

     "I've got to get babysitters," said Ben's dad, thinking ahead. "I'm taking Mom to Paris tonight."

How are the mirror doors used today:  People travel to see their family members all over the world as if they are simply walking into another room.

How much did the mirror doors sell for:  4 billion dollars

What Ben bought with the money:  He bought an iPad for everyone in his family and extended family.  Then, he bought one for every school child in America.




Don't forget to check out part 1 of Dr. Shaw's children's book series of inventions and craziness called Best. Theme Park. Ever. for just $.99 on Amazon. Please leave a positive review on Amazon if you will!  It helps get Dr. Shaw's work discovered by others.  Also, when you buy it on Amazon, you can choose which iPod, iPhone, iPad or other device to send it to, as long as you have the free kindle app installed on that device.