Hunched over her desk, Nip held the vial of chemicals with a pair of tongs precariously above a conical flask. Her breath slowed, and with a gentle tipping of the tongs, the chemicals poured into the flask. The resulting chemical reaction was violent. The flask’s contents bubbled viciously, before ultimately erupting in a thick pink mass of foam.
Nip fell backwards off her tall stool, hitting her home testing lab’s floor with a thud. Ignoring the pain and winding, she hurriedly pulled the stool away from the desk, as the foam crept towards the floor. A blob separated from the central mass and landed on the oak hardwood floor. The varnish reacted with the viscous chemical, causing a spark with explosive consequences.
Yelling expletives, Nip dragged herself upright and dashed to the back wall, collecting her fire extinguisher. Blasting yet another foam, white this time, onto the now blazing mess of her science equipment, Nip shook her head in frustration. This outcome was part of the 1 in 1000 she had previously calculated, but as Nip was very used to this fiery result, any of her fellow academics would have noticed the smoothing and massaging of the figures to suggest a more desirable outcome.
The fire finally died down, and Nip investigated the damages. The conical flask and test tube had both shattered, her desk and stool had seen better days, and yet another scorch mark had been added to her floor. A regular day in the lab.
Today's prompt: home testing lab
If you'd like to participate too, the contest can be found here: @mariannewest/day-1585-5-minute-freewrite-tuesday-prompt-home-testing-lab