Short Bedtime Stories Presents: Ben Ventor's New Grass Growing Invention

Short Bedtime Stories Presents: Ben Ventor's New Grass Growing Invention

     If it wasn’t cleaning on Saturdays, it was yard work.  Evidently, Ben’s dad and mom had been programmed to believe that Saturday was not a day for fun, but a day for work.  His parents even liked to tell the kids stories about there own youth work projects.

     “When I was a kid,” his mom would say, “my dad would wake us up every Saturday with a new work project.  At least we don’t do this every Saturday,” she reassured them. 

Ben always thought that was funny because when his mom said, “not every Saturday” she really meant, “all but one or two Saturdays a year.”

     “Today, we work on the yard,” his dad announced that fateful morning.  “We are going to try to get a back yard.”

     Aside from the ski slope and the Olympic pool now found in the back yard, there was nothing but dirt back there.  As his parents liked to tell the neighbors, “it is our big dust bowl.” 

     But, today, Ben’s dad was on a mission.  “We are going to plant grass back there.”  Ben and Fran groaned at the very thought of working all day in the yard. 

     “Outside?” Peter asked excitedly.  He didn’t care if it meant marching to his death outside.  As long as it meant he got to put on shoes, he was in.  He had quite the obsession with shoes currently.

     Before long, the Ventor clan was outside picking up large rocks and moving them beyond the designated border for where the grass would be.  Ben’s dad was busy tilling the dirt to get it soft enough for the grass seed to be laid down.

     Every once in a while, the crew would take a break and Ben’s Dad would say, “you know if this dirt were to get plenty of rain, we would be done with this in no time.”  This got Ben thinking.

     By the time they had finished removing rocks, then tilling, then raking, then laying down seed two days later, the family was ready to turn on the sprinkler.  The rules of planting new grass state that you must keep the seeds constantly moist for 15 days if you have any hope of those seeds sprouting. 

     Thus, Ben arrived with his latest invention.

     “What in the world are you about to do with that, Ben?” His dad asked, motioning to the giant fan that Ben was wheeling out onto the lawn with his slap on tires. 

     “Watch,” Ben answered.

     “Wait, wait, wait, Ben,” his dad said, holding onto Ben’s shirt.  “You’re going to blow away the seeds.”

     “Just watch, Dad,” Ben said, now angling the fan so that it pointed straight up above the dust bowl.

     Ben flipped the “on” switch of the fan, and it began to purr like a kitten.  Ben reached over and tapped the button with a picture of a rain cloud on it.  The fan began to blow fog up into the air until it made a perfect cloud resting 30 feet above the dust bowl.  Then, instantly, the rain began to fall.

     “Rain!” yelled Peter.

     “It can make any kind of weather you want,” explained Ben loudly over the sound of the rain.  “You can make rain, sunshine, wind, hail, and hurricane even.  You just have to hit the button.”

     “Buttons!" yelled Peter.  With that, Peter came over to the weather fan and hit the snow button.  The clouds began to drop buckets of snow onto the new grass seeds and the Ventors.  Fran, in particular, did not look very impressed.

     “Cool,” Fran said, in a grumpy sarcastic tone with a foot of snow resting on her head.  She turned and walked inside.

     “I think it’s cool, Buddy,” Ben’s dad said putting his arm around Ben.  “Now, let’s get some sunshine back out here so we can melt off this snow.

How the weather fan is used today:  Farmers around the world use it to control the weather for their crops.  The army uses it to freeze out enemies.  And, kids use it to play in, instead of sprinklers.

How much the weather fan sold for: 372 million dollars.

What Ben bought with the Money: 700 Acres of land to farm on.






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.