Whizzing through the garage, Richard was elbows deep in a pile of mechanical blueprints, scribbles of unexplainable diagrams and equations scattered all over the place. Marty watched with wide-eyed curiosity. He’d seen his eccentric grandfather up to some pretty wild projects, but this one had an air of gravity about it.
“We’re building the future, Marty!” Richard declared, waving a roll of blueprints in the air. “And to do that, we need to visit a reliable business for steel supplies in Melbourne. Steel is the backbone of the future!”
Marty gulped. Richard’s excitement was both infectious and daunting. He’d seen enough to know that a project like this wasn’t just going to be a simple field trip.
Their adventure to the steel supplier was filled with the usual whirlwind of Richard’s haphazard navigation. He bartered, bickered and on one occasion even arm-wrestled a very muscular tradesman to secure the best deal on a variety of high-quality steel beams from the very best steel fabricators Melbourne had to offer.
Back at the garage, their pile of steel beams, tubes and assorted products seemed like an unmanageable task to Marty. But he had to admit, seeing Richard in his element, piecing together the future of steel, was something to behold.
As the dust settled, Richard patted Marty on the shoulder. “Just remember, Marty,” he grinned, “no matter how complicated life gets, there’s always a solution in steel.”
The next day, Marty stood at the front of his class, presenting their adventure. The whole class was enraptured by the story of their steel escapade, especially Jess, Marty’s long-term crush. Marty beamed with pride, though his elation was short-lived, as in the stunned silence, Marty’s teacher finally found her voice.
“Marty, you were supposed to do a presentation on bees. Not… whatever this was!” With a sigh, she marked an ‘F’ on Marty’s assignment sheet. Marty glanced at Richard, who just shrugged, clearly unfazed. After all, what was a bad grade compared to the thrill of steel? Their grand adventure had just begun.