As a participant in the Platform Building Campaign, I've been asked to come up with a 200 word story that includes miasma, lacuna, oscitate and synchronicity. Don't know what these words mean? You're not alone. This is the best I got.....
Dr. Imago
Dr. Imago
“If you can get past the miasma that emanates off the freshly dead and examine the corpse at the microscopic level, you’ll appreciate the beauty of synchronicity that happens between bone resorption by osteoclasts, the formation of the lacuna, and subsequent ossification that’s achieved by osteoblasts,” he said with flowery hand gestures. As though dramatizing the lecture made a rat’s incisor that much more interesting and poetic. Any moment he would pull out puppets and break into song.
The only word she retained from that entire sentence was ‘dead’. Two steps away from it, medical school was supposed to make you smarter and here she was losing brain cells with every second of boredom trapped in the front of the class. A class entitled The Calcification of Bone. It didn’t sound like a winner when she picked it but it was either that or Introduction to Music, the elective where you could literally clap for credits. Her father would not have approved. And that was the point of all this.
“No more oscitating, young lady.”
Now everyone was looking at her. She snapped to attention, misunderstood the problem and passed the rest of the hour red faced and perfectly still.
Entry no. 191
Entry no. 191
Ha! Great take! I had a college bio prof. who could be the exact manifestation of your bone teacher. Including the flowery hand gestures. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteVery clever, sounds like a lot of my youngest daughter's tests that I had to help her with! Lol! She's a nurse. ; )
ReplyDeleteOh, this was delightful, creative and smooth as silk.
ReplyDeleteA mystery, there is nothing I love more, would love to hear "the rest of the story."
It was a good read.
#188
I think "osteoblasts" is one of my new favorite words. I have no clue what it means, but for some reason reminds me of old people in wheelchairs getting drilled with high-speed footballs.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful writing, though! One of the things I liked about this entry was how well you managed to mix the words into the piece without making them stand out like sore thumbs. Packing them into the medical-like speech gave them a good home that wasn't offset by the writing around it.
Wow. You used those words so well not a one stood out. Excellent piece made better by the fact I understood every word. Guess all those years of college did me some good after all. So I'm not a bone-head. Wait,I guess I couldn't be with osteoporosis from bed rest after an accident. Astronauts & me, so lucky to have holes in all our bones, including our heads.
ReplyDeleteI've read a few of these, some great ones, but this really appealed to my sense of humour and made reading those words seem fresh. I totally felt her pain and loved the part about clapping for credits - that made me laugh. Great job, gets a vote from me.
ReplyDeleteLOL, this reminds me of some of my mum's nursing stories. Great job with the challenge!
ReplyDeleteHi! Just wanted to add that I really liked how well written this is. Clever way of using these "words" :). Good job!
ReplyDelete@ Jes....you know what they say, write what you know ;)
ReplyDelete@ Sheri...nursing has got to be one of the most under-appreciated professions out there. Especially when you have to study all that!
@ Wild Magnolia....thanks.
@rddenton....it reminds me of candy, like pop rocks or gobstoppers. Thanks so much for your kind words.
@Sher A. Hart....holes are where creativity lives! Thanks for the support.
That was excellent!
ReplyDeleteI would feel the same way in her shoes. Biology wasn't exactly my strong suit. You pulled it off like an expert.
Great job! :)
Very smooth and realistic. Been there, felt that.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Paula (#192)
@ SP Mount....yah it was a challenge making miasma sound funny
ReplyDelete@raelyn barclay...thanks a lot.
@Alynza....back at you babe.
@David...I've taken enough biology to get the feel of a really dull lecture.
@Paula SJ.....;)
Wow - the words in this just flow so well. Given the subject matter your doctor is addressing in his lecture, I barely noticed them.
ReplyDeleteWell done.
That list of words posed what seemed to be a difficult challenge, but you made them work seamlessly. Guess there's no calcification in your head, eh? Great job.
ReplyDelete@ K.T. Hanna.....thanks. The beer must have helped slur the words.
ReplyDelete@Susan....Ha! Just a lot of space ;)
Awesome take on the challenge! Love how you worked the words into your piece!
ReplyDeletenicely done! i cant imagine an entire class on the calcification of bones! i'd oscitate too =O
ReplyDelete@ F.E.Sewell....Thanks a lot, it wasn't easy.
ReplyDelete@ Tara Tyler...I actually took a class called Calcification. Had to write a whole paper on homogeneous nucleation. What a nightmare.
Great entry and very creative. Loved the 'clap for credits' line. Mine has a Dr Imago too :) (#133)
ReplyDeleteI love this, I would have picked the class where you had to clap for credits though!
ReplyDeleteMine is #3.
@ Claire....the Dr. gets around ;)
ReplyDelete@ Jen....thanks for your support.
I think I took this class in medical school. You caught the character of those stuffy old pathology professors perfectly. Great job!
ReplyDelete@ Julie...thanks for your support!
ReplyDeleteVery funny in a dry sort of way. I'm over from the campaign, # 142. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI've had some professors like that! Great entry.
ReplyDelete@Catherine....thanks for dropping by
ReplyDelete@kmckendry....mucho gracias