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Pretty Petri

When was the last time you allowed your own mind to think for itself?
Should you?
The mind is like a petri dish
Delicate like the glass it's made from
See through (at least to you) like it's transparent
It's also completely open
Until you choose to culture bacteria
But in this case, your thoughts
Your thoughts are like bacteria
Some good for you, some bad enough to infect the good ones
But it's up to you to mind that petri dish
So no, you shouldn't.

This morning I woke up at 5.41 AM 
The first day of June 
I woke to the ever sweet smell 
of Petrichor
Seeing puddles and very insistent drops falling steadfastly into them 

The first rain of the year is the very first rain for so many baby birds
Bird moms and dads talk about the first rain with gushes of excitement 
Baby bird minds imagine delighting at pretty clear droplets falling down before ever seeing it
I saw a video about how if you give an egg to a dog, they would be very careful not to crack or drop it
Orphaned baby birds probably instinctively feel joy when they see their first rain, without the preparation to feel it

Firsts are so memorable
The first, distinct time I learnt what's right and left, directionally, that is
I was in the second standard and sitting in the far right of the classroom 
The teacher was doing some sort of cute morning exercise with us
We were all standing and swaying about
She said, "go right" and I went left
I remember so clearly because my bench partner went right, toward me
Looking beyond him, so did the rest of the classroom

I know what's right today because of that day 
Small hand reached out, and index finger pointing to the wall to the right of me 
All microsecond flashbacks
Conjured every consecutive time I was asked to go right, almost till I was old enough to know without the visual cue

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