Fiction, Short Stories

Chem 101

ryanhougardy / February 16, 2021
This post is part of Writer’s Digest February Flash Fiction Challenge.  Flash Fiction is a short, often under 1,000 words, style of writing.  I hope you enjoy my 28 contributions!
Day 16 Prompt: A Boring Situation That Becomes Exciting

They were now one month into the Fall semester and just a month away from midterms, however, the collective opinion of Professor Aggleberry’s Chem 101 class was that, well, they hadn’t done any chemistry yet.

The way the class description read, students thought they would have lecture on Wednesdays for two hours, then four hours of lab time on Fridays.  It was bad enough that a bunch of nineteen-year-olds were forced to get up at 8am on a Friday – somehow, all their friends managed to have Fridays off – but the fact that Professor Aggleberry had somehow filled their four-hour lab time with additional lecture was downright criminal.

As the lecture hall filled up, a chorus of resigned grunts and groans echoed around the room.  Attendance was nearly 50% of their grade, so students were sure to show up, but there was no doubt that not a single one of them wanted to be there on the Friday of week five.  Even the brown nosers had given up all hope by week three, concluding that old Professor Aggleberry and his overhead projector had no plans to let them learn through experimentation.

The murmurs and whispers around the room went silent when the creaky steel door at the front of the hall opened.  Professor Aggleberry shuffled in, his usual brown cardigan neatly buttoned and his small round spectacles balancing on the tip of his nose.  He was carrying his old leather apothecary bag, an accessory that had solidified his intrigue around campus.

He walked past the lectern, his usual command post, and over to the small table in the center of the stage.  He set his bag down on the floor and, with a jarring rumble, bent down and opened the bag.  He pulled out two glass beakers and set them side by side on the table.  He bent back down and fished out two small vials, both with seemingly clear liquid, and placed them next to the two beakers.  Finally, he pulled on some pale blue latex gloves, and poured the contents of one of the vials into one beaker and the contents of the other vial into the other beaker.

Mr. Aggleberry hadn’t said a single word since he entered the room, which was odd enough, but the display unraveling before them imbued virtual silence amongst the students.  They leaned forward in their desks, abandoning their phones and pencils and pens, relishing the intriguing moment.

Professor Aggleberry lifted one of the beakers, swirled it around slowly, then poured the clear liquid into the other beaker.  He took a couple steps back, keeping his eyes on the small table.  The students stared in bewildered anticipation, holding their breaths, not knowing what to expect.

Suddenly, the liquids in the beaker turned an electric green and expanded so rapidly, they exploded out of the beaker as a colorful, thick, foamy material.  The volcanic display launched nearly ten feet in the air, accompanied by gasps and screams from the students around the room.  The foam rained down on and around the table with a loud, wet patter, oozing to a stop before running off the stage.

Professor Aggleberry looked up at his shocked students and, with a sly smile, said, “Thank you for your patience.  Today, we do chemistry.”

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