Tommy and The Time Machine
Posted by Ed Shapiro on
Tommy
& The
Time Machine
Tommy wasn't just any kid. He was curious, clever, and completely obsessed with two things: funky colors and big questions.
He was the kid who wondered why the sky changed colors at sunset, why certain words were spelled the way they were, and — most importantly — whether anything interesting was hiding underneath the furniture.
One rainy afternoon, while playing in his room, Tommy spotted something glowing beneath his alphabet rug. A warm, golden light, pulsing softly at the edges.
He got down on his knees, lifted the corner of the rug — and couldn't believe what he saw.
A tiny hatch. Brass edges. A bright red handle. And the unmistakable hum of something magnificent waiting to be discovered.
Tommy did what any curious, clever kid would do.
He gave it a tug.
✦ WHOOSH! ✦Up rose a boxy, beautiful machine — colorful buttons, twisty copper pipes, and big bold letters all over it, just like the ones on his rug. On the top, in groovy yellow letters it read:
TIME MACHINE
Tommy's eyes sparkled.
and pressed the big green button labeled GROOVY GO.
In a flash of swirling daisies and alphabet confetti, Tommy was gone.
Tommy's Grand Tour
Age of Dinosaurs
Dancing dinos in bell-bottoms
The Middle Ages
Knights who needed a spelling lesson
Ancient Egypt
Hieroglyphics & adventures
A School on Mars
Future cities & hover-hamsters
Tommy landed in a valley of towering ferns and bumping bass. But these weren't the scary dinosaurs from the movies. These were dancing dinos in bell-bottoms and flower crowns, doing the twist like nobody was watching.
A Triceratops noticed him immediately.
Tommy laughed so hard he snorted. Then he joined in, grooving with the herd until he was completely out of breath and positively covered in daisy petals.
Next, the machine dropped him in the courtyard of a stone castle, where four knights in gleaming armor were squinting at a banner that said: C–A–S–T–L...
They were stumped on the last letter.
Tommy stepped forward, pressed the glowing letter buttons on his machine, and spelled it out: C-A-S-T-L-E.
The knights erupted in cheers. The king arrived on horseback. And by sundown, Tommy had been formally knighted:
After Egypt (where he traded alphabet button sounds with a very curious scribe) and future cities full of gleaming towers and hover-hamsters zipping between rooftops, Tommy finally felt the familiar tug of home.
The machine spun. The daisies swirled. The alphabet confetti fell.
✦ DING! BUZZ! ZAP! ✦He landed back in his room — rug perfectly in place — just as the smell of dinner drifted up the stairs.
Tommy shut the hatch, smoothed the rug back over it, and sat back on his heels with a grin so wide it nearly fell off his face.
His mom appeared in the doorway, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised.
Tommy looked around at the daisy petals still in his hair, the alphabet confetti tucked into his shoe, and the soft golden glow quietly fading under the rug.
He paused, grinning.
The world is full of adventures when you ask big questions, love to learn, and aren't afraid to press a few buttons.
Inspired by the Groovy Alphabet & Flowers Rug
The colorful, funky rug that sparked Tommy's adventure is real — and it's waiting in your classroom.