Ascher & His Machines

 ASCHER & HIS MACHINES

There was a young boy named Ascher. He was a toddler of two.

He liked to make machines from his toys. His machines were not really real machines, just make-believe ones.

One day Ascher made a mixer. 

He turned an empty plastic pail into a mixing bowl. A pedal from the front wheel of his tricycle became a whisk. 

For flour, eggs, milk and what-not he used small blocks. He put these in the pail. 

While swirling the pedal in the pail, round and round, he made the whirring sound of a mixer.

What was the inspiration for Ascher's machine? It was his grandmother's electric mixer.

 

Another time Ascher made a camera.

He took a pair of toy binoculars. He took the lenses from it. 

He found a small block of wood from a pile of boards. It had a large hole and an uneven shape. 

He placed one of the lenses in the hole, lifted it up and said "A camera".

What was the inspiration for Ascher's machine? It was his daddy's camera.

Ascher even made a water pump. 

He cobbled together a toy steering wheel for a valve...

...a small water wheel and a couple of trucks for the pump itself...

...and several baby bottles to form the piping. 

What was the inspiration for Ascher's machine? The water pump in his parents' house.

Ascher made a water fountain too.

He took a stopper from a kitchen sink. Placed it atop a few wooden blocks, then announced to all present, "A fountain".

What was the inspiration for Ascher's machine? The water fountain in his grandparents' garden.

Once while playing rescue-and-emergency with his police car, ambulance and firetruck, Ascher picked out two pieces of plastic from his toy box. 

He pulled out a small scoop and the lid from a mini-milk container.

He joined the two pieces, placed it to his mouth, and said "Speaker." 

What was the inspiration for Ascher's machine? It was a bullhorn he had seen in a cartoon.

Month after month, Ascher continued to make more machines. 

When he fancied a thing of his liking, he would build it and imagine himself in this make-believe world. 

It made him happy and happiest to know people liked his machines.

© Breyel, Timm. “ Ascher & His Machines". All rights reserved.  No part of this story may be copied, broadcast, reproduced in print or electronically represented without permission from the author.