A Hot Topic {Story Fragment}
"All right then, what do you have here?"
"Ha! You'll like this. Have a look!"
"What, you mean this little pebble here?"
"Precisely! Oop, careful though, under no circumstances do you want to set it off accidentally!"
"Oh? What is it?"
"I call it 'Solid Phlogiston'!"
"Oh come now, the theory of phlogiston was disproven a few years ago!"
"You know I know that. I just wanted something that was was adequately descriptive. Imagine, for a moment, it turned out that phlogiston was real, and that you could some how compress it, solidify it, freeze it--"
"Frozen essence of heat? That's as ridiculous as your dehydrated water idea!"
"If you'll please let me finish? Thank you. As I was saying, if you could solidify it, then I am reasonably certain it would have properties similar to that 'pebble' you hold."
"Surely you jest! Nothing this size could hold that kind of energy."
"Before now. I hope to sell it to the railways; they could get farther on this than an entire car of coal."
"Come now, that's impossible. You'll be the laughingstock of the city! My good friend, you've been cooped up back here for too long; come on, won't you join me for a cup of coffee?"
"Tea, thank you, and no, thank you. I have not yet quite perfected the process, but since you are obviously still unconvinced I believe a demonstration is in order. If you would be so kind as to hand it to me, I will show you!"
[Insert harrowing yet hilarious description of how it goes horribly wrong and they barely make it out of the workshop alive. Possibly save the shop, possibly not. They collapse outside, dirty and disheveled, and take several minutes to catch their breath.]
"Now then, do you still think 'Solid Phlogiston' is a misnomer?"
"No, but I am beginning to suspect despite your startlingly astute grasp of language that you may very well be quite mad."
EDIT: Changed last sentence so it no longer has "starting" and "startlingly" so trippingly close together ^_^ And removed one of the instances of 'that'...
"Ha! You'll like this. Have a look!"
"What, you mean this little pebble here?"
"Precisely! Oop, careful though, under no circumstances do you want to set it off accidentally!"
"Oh? What is it?"
"I call it 'Solid Phlogiston'!"
"Oh come now, the theory of phlogiston was disproven a few years ago!"
"You know I know that. I just wanted something that was was adequately descriptive. Imagine, for a moment, it turned out that phlogiston was real, and that you could some how compress it, solidify it, freeze it--"
"Frozen essence of heat? That's as ridiculous as your dehydrated water idea!"
"If you'll please let me finish? Thank you. As I was saying, if you could solidify it, then I am reasonably certain it would have properties similar to that 'pebble' you hold."
"Surely you jest! Nothing this size could hold that kind of energy."
"Before now. I hope to sell it to the railways; they could get farther on this than an entire car of coal."
"Come now, that's impossible. You'll be the laughingstock of the city! My good friend, you've been cooped up back here for too long; come on, won't you join me for a cup of coffee?"
"Tea, thank you, and no, thank you. I have not yet quite perfected the process, but since you are obviously still unconvinced I believe a demonstration is in order. If you would be so kind as to hand it to me, I will show you!"
[Insert harrowing yet hilarious description of how it goes horribly wrong and they barely make it out of the workshop alive. Possibly save the shop, possibly not. They collapse outside, dirty and disheveled, and take several minutes to catch their breath.]
"Now then, do you still think 'Solid Phlogiston' is a misnomer?"
"No, but I am beginning to suspect despite your startlingly astute grasp of language that you may very well be quite mad."
EDIT: Changed last sentence so it no longer has "starting" and "startlingly" so trippingly close together ^_^ And removed one of the instances of 'that'...