C H A P T E R

7

Mercury, Hg (a planet, sometimes the one that is close to home (earth)

“You know mercury?”

Ale asked hurriedly, carrying a paper bag filled with cheese bread he bought from a bakery store at Green Village. I was waiting at the theme park a little earlier than him, so he quickly grabbed my hand and asked me.

“The planet?” I answered.

“Maybe, but I am talking about the chemical element.” He answered.

Getting one cheese breed for me. The cheese bread was kinda hot. That’s why I let it stay in the air for a while.

“It is liquid at room temperature.” He started.

“Oh, so hot.” I interrupted. Then, I realized I could connect it with the planet mercury facts, so I grabbed the chance. You know, I don’t want to be left behind with Ale.

“There’s an interesting fact about planet mercury. It is the nearest planet to the sun, but then Venus got the record of being the hottest planet in our solar system. Why? Because Venus’ atmosphere is likely to be susceptible to greenhouse gasses. It is naturally hot itself.”

“Thank you for that. But not quite as interesting as to this chemical element.” He winked and then continued his explanation.

I want to be annoyed with Ale, but I guess I don’t really have to.

“Exposure to mercury, the chemical element, can lead to serious health problems.” Said he with an emphasis on the word ‘serious.’

“It is toxic that can harm the nervous system.” He paused. Looked at the cheese bread he scattered on the picnic blanket and spoke again.

“Digestive system, skin, eyes, etc.”

“It has an extremely high vapor pressure. Imagine if you open a container of mercury, a dispersion of metal will be on the air.”

Ale put the cheese bread back again on the plastic bag from where it was packed lately. I don’t have any idea what is he doing. But that was very unhygienic. I told him that he should stop it.

He laughed, saying dead people do not mind.

“Of course, they don’t because it’s non-being, but I don’t find the connection why you said that,” I told him.

But then, Ale just looked at me seriously and then burst into laughter for a couple of seconds. I told him to continue what he knows about the chemical element mercury.

He shared that mercury may really look pretty because it is shining plus a fast-moving liquid form, but it’s poisonous.

“Physical beauty sometimes really is poisonous unless one has to look what is really inside.” He pointed out.

“Yes, we need caution,” I added.

“A ‘quicksilver’ it is called due to its mobility.” He stated.

He then told me that it has a great contribution to medical laboratories despite its dangers. It is being used to make thermometers, diffusion pumps, etc. The conversation was boring because I didn’t have anything to add to it anyway, so I told him that I went to church later that morning.

Our pastor talked about what will happen in the last few days.

“The last days are these days?” He clarified.

“Basically.“ I told him.

“Check Matthew 24:44,” I told him.

Ale might be a science person, but he always respects my religious views, which is one of the good things about Ale. He always allows himself to be in someone else’s shoe.

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” He read on his phone.

“Glad you have a Bible app there,” I said.

“Qur-an, Torah, you name. I have it all in here. It’s dangerous to be ignorant of things, Aerogel.” He told me.

“So yes, you mean we should be ready with the coming of the Son who is Jesus?” He asked.

I told him ‘yes’ and that our ‘flight’ should not be on winter days or the days we are resting, quoting from Matthew 24:20.

“That’s a metaphor, right?” He asked; he seemed curious about it more than how he was curious about the mercury topic earlier.

I nodded and told him,

“Spiritually speaking.”

I noticed that Ale wanted me to share about stuff like that, but then I remembered him saying, ‘only science.’ Hence, I silently paved the topic to say that my churchmates did not talk to me lately at church and nobody seemed to smile at me. He just told me that maybe they were too tired and scared with the message given by our pastor.

Then I go back to where we have started on mercury.

However, he insisted,

“Isn’t this science still? The science of knowing religion? Get what I mean?” He told me.

I said that we would continue the talk the next day because it was about to rain, thank God he agreed.

While on the way home, we have seen another commotion in the nearby bakery.

We eavesdropped that there were missing pieces of cheese bread in the store, and they suspected that the old man who lives in the street had stolen them. But they have not quite strong evidence that it was the man because as seen in the CCTV camera, nobody was there, only a strike of light appeared on the whole screen the moment it was reviewed.

I looked at Ale with the thought of the cheese bread he got lately and laughed,

“You have money, don’t you?” I said jokingly.

“More than that.” He answered, smiling