The first twenty-four hours were a blur of sparks and screaming grinders. They gutted the fridge, sandblasted the rust until the steel shone like silver, and salvaged the bicycle’s chrome handles for the door. The real magic happened with the gears; Jax spent six hours mounting them onto the door, connecting them to a hidden motor so they spun lazily whenever the bar was opened.
When the clock hit zero, the judges walked through the yard. They bypassed the polished wood tables and standard lamp flips, stopping dead in front of Jax’s creation.
"You’re kidding," his partner, Leo, groaned, wiping grease from his forehead. "That fridge looks like it’s been through a war."
"It’s not a fridge, Leo," Jax said, his eyes tracing the Art Deco curves hidden under the grime. "It’s a vintage-inspired home bar with a kinetic gear-clock face."