9 The Amazing Mind-Reading Sandwich-Making Machine

The Amazing Mind-Reading Sandwich-Making Machine

"Hey, Andy," said Terry, "what sort of sandwich do you want for lunch?" "I don't know," I said. "Cheese?" said Terry. "Nah." "Peanut butter?" "Nah." "What about cheese and peanut butter?" "Nah," I said. "I'm sick of cheese sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, and cheese-and-peanut-butter sandwiches." "Then what do you want?" said Terry. "I don't know what I want," I said. "All I know is what I don't want!"

Terry looked over the edge of the deck. "Bill the postman's at the front door!" he said. "Hello, Andy and Terry!" called Bill. "Special delivery for you." "Thanks, Bill," I said. "Can you just leave it at the door? We're kind of busy at the moment." "Making another silly book, I suppose," said Bill. "No," I said. "Just trying to decide what sort of sandwich to have for lunch." "Well, I think I may have something here that could help you," said Bill. "What is it?" said Terry. "Judging by the label on the box," said Bill, "I'd say it's some sort of AMAZING mind-reading

SANDWICH-MAKING MACHINE!" "That's exactly what we need!" I said. "I ordered it last week. We'll be right down!" It was quite a big box— so big that Bill had to help us carry it up to the kitchen. We took it out of the box and set it up. "How does it work?" said Terry. "It says in the instructions that it reads your mind to find out exactly what sort of sandwich you want and then it makes it for you!" I said. "And even better, you can have your sandwich plain, lightly toasted, grilled, or deep-fried. It will even blend the sandwich into a milkshake so you can drink it, if that's what you really, really want!" "Wow!" said Terry. "Being able to drink a sandwich would save so much time! Let's get started."

"Okay," I said. "Apparently, you just put this mind- reading helmet on and the machine does the rest. I'll go first." I put the helmet on and the machine whirred into life. It buzzed and flashed and vibrated, and then the strangest-looking toasted sandwich I'd ever seen came shooting out of the sandwich- dispensing chute. "What sort did you get?" said Terry. "I'm not sure yet," I said, holding it up to my nose. "It smells like chocolate." I took a bite. "It is chocolate!" I said. I took another bite. "And pizza… and marshmallows… and popcorn. It's all of them mixed together— all my favorite things

in one perfectly toasted sandwich!" "I'm going to try it now," said Terry. He put on the helmet and the machine hummed as it read his mind. Pretty soon a very unusual-looking sandwich came shooting out. The bread was green with pink polka dots and the filling looked like rainbow-colored cotton candy. "What a funny-looking sandwich!" I said. "It tastes funny, too," said Terry, giggling. "It's a clown sandwich! Who knew that's what I really, really wanted?" "The AMAZING mind-reading SANDWICH-MAKING MACHINE!" I said. "That's who!" "I must admit, I'm feeling a little peckish myself," said Bill. "Mind if I have a turn?"