This is all becoming a rather intriguing co-production…
Some long-standing readers of our little blog may recall a post a while ago in which some of the residents of Steampunk-Shrunk Towers discovered a large book about a steampunk city constructed of Lego bricks. Jan Miller – the author’s mother – who shares our fascination with steampunk and all things miniature, acquired some of the characters who appeared in the original story and then wrote a sequel as a guest blog. You can read the story so far at this link.
I’m most happy to say that she has now penned a further intriguing chapter in this saga, which I include below.
A visit to Brasston Chapter 3
Lady Josephine was just taking afternoon tea in the Conservatory when a blinding flash of light and a loud whirring noise made her jump to her feet, knocking over pots and tea things. There materialised in front of her Mr. Ashley G. K. Miller in a strange contraption with whizzing disc and coloured lights. As it came to a halt he called out, ‘Phew, that was a little hairy!’
‘My dear Mr. Miller!’ exclaimed Josephine ‘What a surprise! – how did you get here?’
‘This is my new Time Machine,’ Ashley explained. ‘ Following the ideas of the esteemed author, Mr. H.G. Wells. I have experimented with it only once before.’
‘Good Gracious! You mean you have travelled through time?!’
‘ Not exactly on this occasion.’ Ashley climbed stiffly out of the chair squashed behind the driving mechanism. ‘No, I did experiment with that last week, but it was a bit weird – I ended up down a rabbit hole with some very strange characters like an hallucinating caterpillar and a mad hatter. But talking to them and a little girl called Alice, also from the Larger World, I was interested in her experience of changing size in order to be there. As you know, I am from the Larger World, where I wrote my original Traveller’s Guidebook to Brasston. When you and your friends asked for my help in visiting that extraordinary city, I hit upon the idea of trying to use the machine to shrink myself to your size so that we can all go on this trip to Brasston together.’
‘It seems to have worked- and here…’ Ashley rummaged behind the seat, ‘should be a miniaturised version of that very guidebook for you!’
‘Oh thank you!’ exclaimed Josephine. ‘That will make it a lot easier for us to use, and I was wondering how we were going to get the original guidebook inside our Dirigible.’
‘Exactly.’
‘Will you be able to return to your own size when you go home, however?’
‘Well I did when I got out of the rabbit hole – but I’m not quite sure how I did it!’ mused Ashley.
‘Oh dear, you need to write everything down exactly how you did it to get here, before you forget – would you like to join me for tea while you do that?’
‘What an excellent idea’ agreed Ashley, rummaging for his reduced sized notebook, but then realising he had forgotten the pen to match the size to which he had now shrunk. But Lady Josephine furnished the right size of pen.
‘So do you think the Time Machine adapts to the size of the world into which youtravel?’ she asked.
‘Yes, it seems to adapt to whatever the ambient conditions are,’ replied Ashley.
‘How extraordinary!’
‘Yes, I’m just beginning to explore the possibilities. But I’m not sure if this will help us when we get to Brasston – they are even smaller than you, being Lego! However, my Time Machine, unfortunately, can only take one person at a time.’
‘Oh! How did you find out about this extraordinary Lego city of Brasston?’
‘Well I was reading the esteemed author, Jonathan Swift, about Gulliver’s Travels, and contacting him through my Time Machine, I found he had discovered this place, as well as Lilliput.’
‘Good Gracious! Do you think they will see us as undesirable giant aliens and pin us to the ground also?!’
‘I hope not, but nothing is achieved by being afraid!’
We hope you enjoyed that and are looking forward – as we are – to the next instalment.
The steampunk figures and time machine were made by Steampunk-Shrunk and similar items are available at our etsy shop at this link. Miniature versions of the Brasston book, as featured in this story, are available to order from this site. Please use the contact form on the home page.
Ashley Miller’s delightful Brasston book can be purchased in a ‘Larger World’ (full)size version from the Brasston Facebook page by clicking here. It would make a thoughtful gift for anyone, including children, interested in Lego and/or steampunk.
“Well, young Jasper,” said Hugo Fforbes, in the deepest and most sinister voice he could manage, “If I pull my cape around myself just so, do you think I could pass for Count Dracula?”
We noticed that we have not yet provided the full text for our rather popular little Book of Potions. We consider it to be perfectly readable, but there are those who complain that the print is rather small, so here follows a complete transcript for your edification.
Once you have a smooth powder, bind it together with the whites of as many larks’ eggs as needed to make a firm paste.
I, Silvester Bawdrip, would like to offer a very warm welcome to my new premises, which open today, October 5th 2019.
I have to confess, I had some difficulty explaining the situation to my intended, Mistress Ectophemia Fleabane, when she discovered this photography of Lady Steamington in my drawer.
We will be journeying through picturesque hillside villages in the Mendips and ending up on the esplanade of the delightful resort of Weston-super-Mare. Only Mrs S will be able to enjoy the scenery, of course. The rest of us will be squashed into that suitcase of hers. Even more annoyingly, she has decided to bring along Mistress Ectophemia Fleabane and her hovel. The smell is quite distasteful, to say the least. It is best not to know what she is brewing in that caudron.
Coggleford & Son are bringing along a selection of their beautifully restored furniture and there is a slightly alarming ‘spooky section’, influenced, no doubt, by you-know-who.
We stared at one another in total astonishment.
“But we don’t do spooky stuff,” Mrs S protested, having just returned from a highly successful steampunk rally where the retro-futuristic gizmos, gadgets, clockwork devices and watch cog jewellery had gone down splendidly.
Steampunk - Shrunk! 