1. The Pound Machine
The pound machine at the arcade was definitely the best machine Daniel had ever met.
You put a pound in.
You got a pound out.
But expanded from one coin to fifty. Enough to fill an entire yoghurt pot and still have some left to put in every pocket you had.
It was like magic. It suggested a world of fractal expansion, where if you had enough machines you could increase your fortune forever until it was big enough to fill up more than just one yoghurt pot but maybe even as many as four yoghurt pots. And you couldn’t even hold four yoghurt pots. Not ever. Not unless you had four arms!
2. The Penny Machine
The penny machine at the supermarket was definitely the worst machine Daniel had ever met.
You put your pennies in.
And out came a pound.
Or worse, a five pound note. That wasn’t even a coin, let alone thousands of coins, all of them different in their own little ways.
It was like antimagic. The magnificent hugeness of the world reduced down to something small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. And even then you wouldn’t want it in the palm of your hand, because they insisted on being made of paper that was surprisingly horrible to hold. It was like they wanted you to throw it away. Blurgh.
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Notes:
1. Written on June 9th, 2024
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