A Journey to 25 | Day 18

I pricked it once. Nothing happened. I pricked it again. Still nothing. The third time I pricked like I was hammering a nail. And finally, the warm red liquid oozed out of the puncture. It was the day of the Science Seminar at school. Every department of Science, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, was to present something. In my batch, we were a bunch of eleven people who chose Biology instead of Computer Science as their major. I don’t remember much from the seminar but I do remember what happened after it. For our biology sessions, we would be seated in the Biology lab. After the seminar, we came back to the lab. We had presented a demo of how one can test their own blood group. While only the two of us got a chance to do the experiment earlier in the seminar the rest of us found the opportunity right about now. Science experiments are amusing. The joy of doing them successfully is unparalleled. Well, at least for the bunch of us. I took my friend’s finger in my hand. It looked pretty easy to get a drop of blood from one’s finger. So many of them had done it already. Yet I was afraid I might end up bleeding his finger instead. So I pricked it ever so slightly. I pricked it once. Nothing happened. I pricked it again. Still nothing. The third time I pricked it like I was hammering a nail. And finally, the warm red liquid oozed out of the puncture. For a second I thought the needle slid through his finger. For an instant, I thought there was blood all around. For a moment my brain imagined we might need an ambulance. But in the next moment, everything seemed fine. While the others screamed a little he stood still. Standing stall as if nothing happened. Smiling like he does this on a daily basis. I was relieved he smiled. We got a few drops of blood and conducted our test. He was a strong man. At least his finger was. I didn’t offer mine though. I was afraid I might actually end up in a hospital.