Periodic Table-ish

Okay. I didn't take this picture this week. Or this month. I took it this year, though. So gimee some credit. Thanks to Mimi for suggusting jewelry as I seriously had no idea what to do with the elements. I'm not sure what the necklace is made of, but, well... whatever.

Story rather odd too.

        He frowns at the periodic table in front of him.

        Hydrogen. One carbon.

        It is these facts, the basic facts, that he likes to memorize. They don’t change. The universe is so carefully planned out, each small particle making sense. He likes it that way. He hates dealing with people and their strangeness, the way they don’t fit into categories. Life would be so much easier as a bulleted list.

        Iron: atomic weight, 55.845

        He doesn’t want to deal with everyone going all emotional around him. He doesn’t want to have to think about death or life because it doesn’t make sense. There is no formula for heaven, no way of knowing, so he ignores the black-clad people all around him.

        Argon: Atomic number, 18.

        Perhaps someday he can memorize the table so he can go through it in his mind, but now he needs to look at it. He was asked to speak, and that is what is expected of a grandson, but he if he gets there he knows he’ll say something like

        Iridium: standard state: solid at 298K.

        That would be all sorts of ugly. Best to stay clear of the situation altogether.

        Bohrium: a synthetic element not in the enviornment

        Because if he doesn’t the memories will poke at him. It is quite simple, really. He was always studying over at grandma’s when his parents were working. That’s all he’s doing now, too. Any time he studies will take her back to the kitchen, and this is so much easier than thinking about her death.

        Actinium: dangerous and radioactive

        After all, a funeral was just an excuse for people to cry, and he doesn’t want to cry.

        Americium: Group: Actinoid

        Because crying is for sissies.

        Carbon: Amorphous, graphite, diamond.  

        Why not just move on?

        Erbium: Symbol: Er

        So he sits. Staring, staring hard at the periodic table in his lap.

        Polonium: classification: metallic

        Strontium: changes colors.  

        Curium: toxic if accumulated in the bones.  

        It is his own way of saying goodbye.