Challenge #165

[shivver]

Write a short scene of someone struggling with technology. Now, you might ask, what do I mean by "technology"? Any physical object (in other words, not magic) that's above the average level for the world or society in the scene. For example, in the contemporary U.S., your character could be trying to work an M249 - an average American might know how to use a handgun, but a specialized machine gun is a higher tech level. Similarly, in a medieval society, your character may be trying to use (or design!) the first printing press.

The focus should be on conveying the character's confusion, frustration, or sense of wonder (depending on how you interpret the scene), and not necessarily on the details. However, if you do include details, you should attempt to verify that they're correct, e.g., if you have the character pull a lever on that printing press, make sure that printing presses from that era have levers. ;)