Octarine 19, Lapis Lazuli 3: Science

[bookblather]

Author: Kat
Title: Science
Story: In the Heart
Colors: Octarine 19 (He'd never realized that, deep down inside, what he really wanted to do was make things go splat.), lapis lazuli 3 (flux) with Tom's paint-by-numbers (setting things on fire is more fun than it looks)
Supplies and Materials: Miniature collection, canvas, frame, glue (You might not be able to make too much sense of recent events and have trouble shaking off a belief that you should know more than you do.), yarn (this image), feathers (this post), oils (suspended in space), chalk (Nasa Warp Drive: Yeah, Still Poppycock), novelty beads (Discard an axiom).
Word Count: 400
Rating: PG
Summary: Ivy and Science.
Warnings: none.
Notes: Apparently I am writing stories based off school subjects. IDEK. Suggestions for other subjects gladly accepted.


Ivy was three years old when she discovered Science.

Of course, since she was three, it wasn't very challenging Science. It was snowing, so Mommy showed her how to make what she called 'snow marbles,' where you filled a water balloon and put food coloring in and then left it outside to freeze. It didn't work quite the way Mommy intended, because the food coloring sank in swirls, but Ivy thought it looked cool.

Then Mommy showed her a baking soda and vinegar volcano, and she really fell in love. But it was the snow marbles that she knew first.

--

Ivy was eleven when she discovered the joys of Science and fire.

Not that she was in any way supposed to have discovered this. For one thing, fireworks were illegal in New York, and for another thing Mom and Dad had strictly forbidden her to do anything dangerous. But that was boring and also fireworks were legal in Pennsylvania, and Aaron had a driver's license and Mom and Dad were busy with the baby.

She still wasn't sure how she managed to convince her parents that she'd lost her eyebrows in a perfectly reasonable and legal accident.

So worth it.

--

Ivy was thirty-five when she discovered how much fun it was to teach Science to others.

Which, to be fair, she would have figured out sooner, but Summer wasn't much interested in Ivy's style of Science (meaning explosive) and Gina wasn't much interested period, so she'd had to wait for children. But Andy, her little baby boy, watched baking soda volcanoes with awe, and wanted to put the potassium iodide in the hydrogen peroxide himself. That experiment was hard to clean up, but it was so spectacular neither one of them minded.

Ivy had her partner in Science at last.

--

Ivy was well into her seventies before she realized that Science had moved on without her.

NASA was creating warp drives now, and space stations, and there was talk of establishing a colony on Mars. The stars were shifting imperceptibly in the sky. Diseases she hadn't known the names for had cures now. It was all way over her head.

Of course, she'd never been a serious scientist. A veterinarian, a homegrown explosion expert, but not a researcher. And that... was okay. It was all okay.

She'd always liked making things go splat. And if that wasn't Science, what was?

Comments

[kay_brooke]

Aw, this is cute! Making things go splat is indeed an important component of Science.

[bookblather]

Such is my understanding from the various Real Scientists in my family. :D Thanks!

[shipwreck_light]

This is so adorable and SO IVY.

Especially the opening with the little seeds being planted, and then everything comes around and she was a scientist, damnit.

Blowing things up is the most important part.

Can Danny do health class :D?

[bookblather]

She is a scientist! SCIENCE. And also science is best when things go boom.

Thank you! We shall see about Danny and health class.

[novel_machinist]

When I started reading the last bit I thought it would be sad. But it really wasn't. I mean, splat is what it really is all about.

[bookblather]

Yes it is! And Ivy is perfectly happy with how her life turned out, really. All she ever wanted to do was make things go splat. :D Thank you!