The Risen

Chapter 14: I Start Putting My Plan into Action

        Today I will be free from the marble floors, the white walls, and the bright, glaring lights of the hospital. 

        Yesterday I was stuck in bed all day except for trips to the bathroom. The reason why? In boredom, I took the IV out of my arm so I wouldn't have to walk around with the cart on wheels that carried my drip bag. The nurses got really mad when they found out. I tried, in a failed attempt, to move my right arm and shelter it with my left so they couldn't put the needle in.

        I also found out I couldn't lift anything yet with my right arm. I tried to bring a cup of orange juice up to my mouth to drink. Bad idea. My arm, plain and simple, refused to move. A stab of pain sliced through my arm, and orange juice ended up splashing everywhere. That didn't please the nurses, either.        

         Today, I spend most of the day roaming the hallways. The nurses have let me change into clothes Mom brought me, so it's not as emarrassing to be seen in public.

        Ah, the nurses. They will be glad to see me out of here.

        My arm is still stiff, but I can at least move it a few inches up and down. Earlier this morning, the nurses changed my bandages and took the IV out to see if my arm would start spasming without it. So far, so good.

        At 3:00, I am finally released. I make Mom drive me to the store to pick up a doughnut. I am so sick of the healthy food the hospital has been feeding me!

        The first thing I do when I get to the Dobles' house is search the web for magnesium powder and sodium hydroxide (lye). I buy more than ten pounds of each. Sorry Mom. It was expensive. 

        The next day, the shipments come, delivered at the front door. I immediately set up a work space outside in the hot sun. It consists of a big metal pan with a lid, my magnesium powder, the sodium hydroxide, matches, and a wooden stir stick. I set all this down on the grass. I put on protective goggles and rubber gloves.

        I get to work, first putting a bit of magnesium powder in the pan, then sodium hydroxide. I mix these together with the wooden stir stick. I pile the dry mixture into a small hill that rests against the wall of the pan. My eyes roam the area, looking for a fuse. When I find nothing, I go on YouTube, the old website from when I was really little. 

        Anyway, it shows me how to make a simple, slow working fuse so I have time to run away in case my experiment explodes. Soon I have a fuse made out of cotton string, sugar, and water. The video shows how the fuse worked out decently for the man, so I decide to light it up. 

        I stick part of the fuse into the pile of magnesium pwder and sodium hydroxide. I bend the fuse upward, then I light it with a match. I quickly put the lid on the pan and back away. I wait a few seconds before returning to the pan to take the lid off. It takes me a while to put the fire out, but eventually I do. 

        I have made sodium metal, which, for those of you who don't know, is a metal that is highly reactive to water. 

        Since it worked with the small amount, I do the same thing again, over and over, with bigger amounts, until I have ten pounds of sodium metal.

        When I finally look up, I realize it's almost dark, which means I have been working on this project for more than five hours. It seems I have my dad's disregard for time when dealing with chemistry. 

        Dad. He's the whole reason I knew about sodium metal. Without him I would not have a plan at all. 

        But then again, without him, I wouldn't have to destroy his creations.