A Chemical Reaction

Lunchtime was an unpleasant experience as the yogurt I had reluctantly consumed to satisfy my hunger had begun its foul invasion of my intestines-my hand clutched to my stomach,I whispered to myself.Oh don't be such a baby.I was busily looking at a worryingly tiny map of the uni,trying to find a particular building when something at the corner of my eye caught my attention-a lone leaf having just departed from a nearby tree,falling graciously to the ground before the wind carried it elsewhere.I looked up-Ah,the Chemistry Building.I had never entered before,so I felt slightly anxious-even for such a trivial journey my anxiety levels were rising steadily,as my feet reluctantly moved towards the automatic doors.As they opened slowly a gush of air blew in my face,my eyes wildly swerved left and right,eagerly registering the new surroundings.Nearby,a beeline of mature-looking students clad in white lab coats were waiting to enter a room-I noticed one of them loudly chatting on the phone,the curly-haired man behind biting his bottom lip,folding his arms in growing annoyance.The others had their eyes impeccably focused-following their gaze lead to plain nothing,as I distanced myself to behind a pillar-I discreetly observed one of them,a curious brown-haired girl with her hands pocketed and posture slightly bent.Her face looked incredibly serene,resembling the surreal peace of a corpse-but her eyes were narrowed to something,as if permanently stuck in deep thought.Ah,a natural scientist-born with a face that displayed a superior level of brain activity even when she was daydreaming.The corridor was distressingly narrow and people were rushing from both directions-the place was an overly dense subway,except here people weren't emanating Bo's or trying to graze your butt.I was cautiously trying to avoid bumping anyone,inevitably a girl- with hair tightly wound in a monstrously huge bun and legs rushing psychotically as if pursuing her last chance at joy,hit me squarely on my left shoulder but it was fairly painless.For a brief portion of a second I felt outrageously smart,as if a single touch had rewarded me with a bit of genius.I noticed the boards pinned to the wall next to me felt quite dusty,they had complicated diagrams and names of scientists that were presumably German or Russian,with theories they had introduced and awards they had won listed below-the single word distinctively English there was Nobel,the rest was the kind of mad gibberish meant for the bespectacled occupants of the building to comprehend.My first impression of the Masson Lecture Theatre was that it felt like a state-of-the-art torture chamber-though after entering I felt a light air of nonchalant and carelessness,but as the lecturer hopelessly drifted into topics that were impossibly dull,my eyes wandered-noticing how gloomily coloured the place was,the little amount of sunlight coming through and how genuinely old everything looked-the lecturer looked poised and content,like she belonged here.Also how the single turning of a page could be amplified to the sound of a small explosion with the acoustics in place,and how painfully hard the wooden bench was-leaning back too long would result in a slight back ache,and a single sneeze would garner plenty of attention.Perhaps the comfort of plushy chairs and cold air-conditioning weren't meant for the normal users of this theatre,they were,after all-going to be the main handlers and creators of medicine and such,maybe the cold and sterile environment that seemed to discourage an attachment to emotion would forcefully push them to become the superbly intelligent beings they were destined to be.Maybe they prefer it this way-the lack of colour or liveliness further fuelling their ruthless desire to succeed,reminding them that the cruel pleasures laid outside were merely traps cleverly placed as to see which of them were truly determined,and which were easily tempted by such devious temptations.Traps that the rest of us have mindlessly fell into,and all the crazy ideas we've been delicately force fed with-and we think we have a choice in some of the things we do,but maybe the unseen,allmighty hand of existing social rules and limitations have more power on us than we can imagine:insidiously distorting our opinions of others and ourselves,intoxicating our thoughts with supposedly intellectual ideas that divide us,deliberately commanding us to follow a certain step-by-step guide believed to bring true happiness.And unlike all these issues that are mostly too complex for anyone with one life to fully understand,the basic nature of chemicals provides precious surety and a certain sense of security to one.But maybe there is beauty in destruction and sadness-perhaps in a way it's equally compelling as something set in stone,maybe us humans subconsciously crave for the dangerous and risky things we're constantly warn to avoid.And in a way,despite how chaotic and insanely misplaced everything in one's life seems-everything might just be part of a perfect balance,something that actually makes sense and only God truly knows.Finally the lecture ends,this time when i walk through the corridors they are funereally silent and deserted-stepping out,I haven't got a single thought in my head-absentmindedly I walk past many people,not realising if any of them were actually there.