The Science Lesson
Flash fiction, 200 words
I really had this interaction. It is so based on real events that I thought I should warn you all because I feel that this barely counts as fiction.
I was sitting in the lobby at my kid’s school when his science teacher burst from the hallway as in a whirlwind. Breathing heavy like Aeolus, he called to me and offered a demonstration. I consented. He produced a clear, needleless syringe, half-filled with water. His rude finger was on the pump, and his thumb pressed down so fiercely on the nozzle that I thought it might bruise. Cold water, he said. Then he pushed the pump without lifting his thumb and I watched as the trapped air steamed and the water bubbled. Boils in a pressured vacuum, he said at last. I cried out with delight and thought to myself that this man holds not a syringe but a fountain pen of youth, for I felt as if I were one of his students. But then I saw in his eyes that he too was humbled, though he had devised it. And I wondered if this teacher knew now in a smaller way what Moses could have felt when he sundered the Red Sea before the children of Israel. Perhaps that wonder worker too was reminded of how his own Teacher once divided the earthly waters from the heavens.
Excellent description of the whirlwind of excitement. Also, I'm always a sucker for literary and/or historical allusions when germane to the story, and Aeolus certainly is.
I, however, feel/think the inclusion of Moses and the parting of the Red Sea was a bit much, and detracted from the overall impact of the story. Then again, I appreciate that I may be in the minority in that regard.