WEEK 338
Rhonda looked at her fifteen-year-old son and said, "I know you like to invent things, Ricky, but when cleaning the garage you really shouldn't..."


...post digitally enhanced photos of your sister wearing a bikini promoting tomorrow's garage sale. You've invented enough savvy graphics of your own and remember, mature content will attract adult consumers."

Removing the colorful spreads from around the garage, Ricky sang out, "Okay, mom."

At the sale, balding men in sports cars came. A strange guy in a trench coat, socks and sandals browsed through 70s-style footwear.

Perplexed about their customers, Rhonda inquired, "Hey, Ricky, where are your ads?"

Proudly, Ricky reported, "Online targeting mature audiences!"

Reluctantly, Rhonda questioned a few customers leaving the sale. The investigation led her to an online ad featuring a bleached blond Rhonda circa 1984 clad in a red bikini.

Ricky smiled sheepishly, "There was no content more mature than you, Mom."

by Carolyn Nurse, Brooklyn, NY

...glue so many toys together. Who on earth is going to play with that thing?--That big silver-gray thing wearing those little glass slippers? Why, it looks like it weighs a ton!"

"I'm going to sell it on eBay, Mom. I've written and printed a story to go with it."

"What? What will you call it?"

"Cinderelephant!"

by Carolyn Ann Aish, New Zealand

...fly it over the landfill and dump everything at once. How did you get the whole garage to fly, anyway?"

"Trade secret, Mom. I could tell you, but you can't keep a secret, and pretty soon everybody in the neighborhood would be flying their garage and the sky would get pretty crowded around here."

Rhonda looked thoughtful. "I guess you're right. Just be careful about flying ours, okay?"

"Sure, Mom. Don't worry. It'll be okay after I perfect the GCD. Nobody will notice ours flying then."

"I almost hate to ask. GCD?"

"Garage Cloaking Device."

"Of course."

by Phillip Lynne, Knoxville, TN