Connections

Rian, today, is mulling over the magic of nerve endings.

Ah, you laugh! You roll your eyes! But when, lately, have you stopped to wonder about the workings of the body?

This morning Rian pulled a hot broiler tray from the oven bare handed. I knew it was hot. I knew it would hurt. But I was in a hurry, yes? And I knew it would not injure the hand if I pulled the platter free and sent it sliding across the counter.

There is a moment when you poke the hot metal with one finger, yes? And then gingerly, quickly, grab and move. But for Rian time seemed to slow down.

"It will hurt," Rian thought, "not quite yet....but....now."

And so it did. A brief, flickering instant of nothing and then sharp pain. The instinct to drop. The twitch of the hand. Rian stood a moment longer - an umpteenth of a second - wondering at the sharp concentration of DANGER on the fingertips that in all actuality must have come from alarm in the brain.

And later, sitting in the sun beneath a yellow birch tree, waiting for a late appointment. The leaves summersaulting in the grass. And the light fluff of a breeze, playing with Rian's unkept hair.

"I cannot feel that," Rian marveled, watching a curl reach for the sky. "Or can I? Perhaps..."