It's...Alive!

      Zap. A neuron connects. Zap zap zap. They all continue to fire and form the wirings of my brain. The firings give off the only acknowledgeable sound in my warm little home…or maybe my auditory receptors have simply yet to develop. But I know everything in me constantly develops, and it all originates from somewhere in my back. New bones appear each day with a set order and placement, and my singular arm proves no different. My budding brain flashes to scenes of ancestors as they hunt for food with their sole brachia. They try to overpower the leaping tiger, but fail. Bound only to observe this distant memory woven into my genes, I feel an obligation to aide both my predecessors and descendants. What if they could grab the tiger with not one, but two hands? Or use a spear AND a rock to attack the wooly mammoth? Somewhere deep within my glial and nervous cells, I can sense that my genes want to help too. Pop. A mutation of a single nucleotide occurs.  Only a single mutation, but it remains one of the most critical in my body. As I continue to grow, I notice a big change in my skeletal makeup. A second arm begins to form. I wiggle my infinitesimally small body to try and make room for this coveted limb. The fingers on my brand new second hand appear identical in structure and function to its original counterpart.

            When the rest of my body catches up to the development of the second hand, I slowly leave my nine-month home. Although I have enjoyed my time, I cannot wait to show my family what I made. My mother looks at me with love when I first arrive, but I hear words like “freak” and “monstrosity” when others approach. I begin to cry. How can the outside world act so cruel? Someday they will learn. With a second hand, I can prove them all wrong.