FICTION

A FAMILY AFFAIR

Marylynne 50-M-1 FPE

I looked up from the array of test tubes and glassware in front of me to the calendar hanging below the clock. "Holy Mackerel," I thought, "only four days to Halloween. I'd better go shopping this evening and complete my costume for the masquarade party." The test tubes faded away as I drifted into a vision of what I would be wearing just four nights from now. A tap on the shoulder jerked me back to the present.

"You trying to melt that beaker, V.J.?" the Lab Instructor asked.

"Sorry," I replied, smiling. “I had a little day dream going.” A quick check of my project and I added, "I don't believe I've hurt the experiment any."

"I hope not," he said, "because you couldn't complete it this semester if you had to start over." Together we checked my findings to date and he agreed that I hadn't hurt anything by letting that beaker boil dry. He told me, though, that he would probably knock my final grade down a little because of my daydreaming.

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I always used my initials "V.J." whenever possible because my first name was Vivian - hardly a boy's name. I guess my Mother wanted a girl and I was a disappointment to her but the name stuck. During my primary school days, my name had produced several black eyes, both on me and whoever teased me about having a girl's name.

In high school, I had attempted participation in several sports, but I had suffered from rheumatic fever as a child and simply wasn't strong enough to take the vigorous exercises involved. So I devoted my energies to studies and stood high up in all classes. Chemistry was particularly easy for me and I decided then to become a Chemist.

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