chunkybananas23

The sheet says gather three trials. The TA says five. You’re on the seventh and your partner is preparing another sample to test. 

You measure the sample once and it says 0.5.  You check again and it says 0.10.  Again.  0.07.  The number is never the same. 

You still don’t know your lab partners name. You never knew their name.

You’re allowed to use the special instrument scale. A breeze blows through the room. The TA has to reconfigure the scale. Your time is over, and the next person walks into the room. A breeze follows them. 

You put your pencil down for a second.  You look back and it’s gone.  There are three people in the room.  Everybody else is using pens. 

You walk into the room with a hair tie on your wrist. You set your equipment down as lab starts, and go to tie your hair back. Your hair tie is gone. You are the only girl in the lab right now.

The TA gives the safety lecture. The far right fume hood is not to be used. It doesn’t work. None of them work. The fire truck hasn’t been to the chemistry building in a few days anyway.

You pass by a dark room every day.  It’s got a cleared to practice sign on it.  Equipment is there and never dusty. You watch it from a distance every day.  It’s never used.

A fire drill goes off. The TA assured you it’s just a test run. Sirens echo in the distance as you measure out exactly 0.45 mg of powder C.

You’re doing a calculation when you hear it: the distinct sound of thumping.  The TA tells you it’s probably just the cadaver lab.  Ignore it.

You walk into the lab. You stare at the TA, who stares back at you with the dead eyed gaze of a grad student on his fifth cup of coffee. You hand in your report and walk away silently, knowing you saw your future. 

You have a lab next week.  You still don’t have the grade from the last lab.  Or the one before that.  You don’t have any lab grades.

The booklet says the lab will take two and a half hours. The TA says an hour. You’ve been here for four, and no where near done. 

You go to office hours.  You wait the entire four hour time slot.  Nobody is there.  The next day the TA says nobody came to office hours. 

You have a question on your lab due. You search for your TA’s email in your notes. You go to the website. They aren’t listed. You email your professor. They’ve never heard of them. Your TA smiles at you the next day. 

On the first day of lab your TA introduces himself. His name is Matt, and he’s a grad student at the university. The other TA is named Lauren. They were your TA’s for your last lab. And the lab before that. They are the only TA’s you have ever seen.

Mauritius ornate day gecko (Phelsuma ornata)

Mauritius ornate day gecko is a diurnal species of geckos. It occurs on the island Mauritius and some surrounding islands and typically inhabits different trees and bushes. The Mauritius ornate day gecko feeds on insects and nectar. This Gecko is one of the smallest day geckos. It can reach a total length of about 12 cm. The body colour is quite variable. It can be bluish green, green with a blue area on the front back, or completely blue.