22 December 2024, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2594: carbon lifeform

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Although Saturdays were not homeschool mornings for the Ludlow grandchildren, sometimes something that they had learned kicked in on Saturday, to interesting results particularly before breakfast.

“So, I had this dream last night, and it all came together in the weirdest way,” ten-year-old Andrew Ludlow was saying to his eleven-year-old sister Eleanor. Both were reading on a high school level, and so science was something that stretched both their minds.

“So, when God made the world, He made a lot of carbon and He made a lot of things out of carbon – I mean, basically, when you say 'carbon lifeform,' that's basically everything … but when you stop and think about pencils, diamonds, and the cores of some stars, they are made of carbon too … but then you think it's like Velma will take a lump of clay and make all this different stuff out of it, or you can put Grayson in the Lego pile with the same Legos and he can make all this different stuff out of it. We're not only carbon lifeforms, Ellie … we're the carbon lifeforms who can make stuff out of the stuff made out of carbon with us … that's what it means to be made in God's image. He's the Creator, and we're the sub-creators.”

“Wow,” Eleanor said. “I mean, it makes sense, but what I would really like to know is if Cousin Maggie's spaghetti sauce has powers, because wow.”

“I hadn't even considered that,” Andrew said, “but you figure there's nothing happening out of the bottled versions at the store.”

“She uses a lot more garlic – like, cloves of garlic – than most people from around here do, and we grow our own parsley too.”

“That's it,” Andrew said. “Garlic grows in the dirt, and we get our parsley fresh from the dirt, and dirt is mostly carbon – that's why it came through!”

“I don't know that if that is exactly how that works,” Eleanor said, “but I also know all the great scientists were born before people thought food came out of a box to be put in a microwave.”

“Well, real food is good science, kinda,” Andrew said. “I mean, you gotta follow all these instructions and put things in all these different temperatures and wait for all these reactions, like, food takes time to brown and all that. A lot of the world's greatest scientists are people like Cousin Maggie and Grandma, because you gotta feed your brain somehow.”

“I feel like if you are going to understand the universe and all that,” Eleanor said, “you gotta have good science in the kitchen first.”

“It's a good thing our folks are not bigots – everybody down to Rob can cook,” Andrew said. “He just loves making burgers and meatballs and meatloaf with our grandparents and our big cousins, and I really feel like that for a five-year-old, he really does get it.”

“He gets the love part,” Eleanor said. “He loves to eat and he wants everyone to enjoy too, and he really does have a good-sized little hand to flatten the little smash burgers and make those little meatballs.”

“Meatballs? Where?” Lil' Robert Ludlow said as he stumbled out into the living room.

“We were talking about how good yours are,” Eleanor said as her baby brother, not quite balanced after just waking up again after his reveille warm-milk-with-three-drops-of-coffee with their big cousin Col. H.F. Lee, stumbled into her embrace.

“It's OK to have breakfast first,” she said gently to him.

“OK, because, see, I will make some more for you later because, see, it's fun and, see, I like that you like them,” he said.

“I really do, Rob – it's more special when we all help.”

“Yep,” Andrew said. “God is doing His thing, and we get to be part by doing our thing. I'm a little baker myself, but, you do make real good meatballs, Rob.”

Lil' Robert considered this, and then smiled.

“Wait, see, because, Hot Pockets,” he said.

“Oh, a homemade thing like – what's that thing Mrs. Trent makes?” Eleanor said.

“Jamaican patties,” Andrew said, “where the baker and the meat man come together – I see where you are going, Rob, and I'm with it!”

“Also pot pies,” Eleanor said, “so y'all can come over into my department.”

“Now all we gotta do,” Lil' Robert said, “is get Cousin Maggie to let us have breakfast and dinner at the same time!”

“But we already do that – it's called dessert after dinner,” Eleanor said.

“Oh yeah – you must have had good sleep too, Ellie, because that is a real connect,” Andrew said.

“Yeah, because, see, I'm with two meals at the same time,” Lil' Robert said. “I'm with that!”