Borrowed Time

Chapter One - Something Borrowed

My bacon cooking device was almost complete. I was missing one key component. I pondered the design of my Rube Goldberg device as I sat and mollycoddled my little pet mouse; he was also an important part to this contraption.

Why a bacon cooking gadget? Of course there were so many more important things I could be inventing, like curing the various diseases that plagued the world. Simple logic, bacon runs the world. Everything is better with bacon, except for my bacon. My bacon was always so burnt, it could be used to write novels or draw great pieces of art with, nothing more than the proverbial piece of charcoal that even a dog wouldn't eat.

The missing component struck me, literally. My egg timer fell off the shelf that hung on the wall over my favorite chair, as if something had pushed it. It hit me on the top of my head, and fell into my lap.

My egg timer was simple; it was the kind you had to manually flip over to get the sand flowing. I recalled the egg timer my mother had. It was on a spinning cog, and it turned itself. I could use steam to turn the timer quicker. Perfect bacon would be mine soon enough! I put the little mouse back into his cage, and hurried over to my mother's to borrow her egg timer.

It was cold and I realized I had been in too big of a hurry to grab my coat on the way out of the door. My breath was white as it left my body. I was thankful I had remembered to put my boots on in my haste to get the egg timer from my mother.

I decided to hail a Gurney carriage to get out of the cold. The steam powered vehicle would also get me to her house faster than I could run.

***

"I hate that you insist on wearing your corset on the outside of your clothes, Meryia." My mother said in greeting as I entered her parlor. "Pantaloons as well, I raised you better than this."

She hadn't even looked at me, but she knew me all too well. I was wearing a dark brown leather corset over my purple frilly shirt, and brown pantaloons tucked into brown leather boots that were embroidered with a silver design. I wore a pair of tinted goggles around my neck like a choker necklace, easy access for when I needed to weld something. At least I had remembered to remove my hat before entering the house. Mother hated when I got feathers all over her floor.

I sat down in the chair across from her at the table, and smiled at her as she continued to sip her tea. I was waiting for her speech on how a proper lady should be.

She put her tea cup down, and poured me a cup of tea. Nothing tastes better than Earl Grey on a cold day, especially when that cold day is a New England cold day. Instead of the usual lecture she gave me, she removed her glasses and folded them neatly on the tray next to her.

"What do I owe this visit?"

I hated the implication that I only showed up to visit when I needed something, but then again, over the last year, that had been true. I hated coming to visit and the constant lectures she would give me about not having a suitable suitor... She blamed my sky-blue hair; telling me my preferred mode of dress was the main reason I was still single.

She always threw my creations into the conversation, talking about them as if they were a great sin against all of humanity. When I had taken the apprenticeship to build air ships, she had reacted so badly, my father threatened to cut me out of his will.

"I was wondering if I could borrow your egg timer." I said.

"Dear heavens, my egg timer? Why in the world would you need one? Your father and I bought you one when you moved into your apartment. Although, I don't see why you needed to move into your own apartment. You aren't married or planning on it anytime in the near future."