Lead in Ovid's Life Line
By ice rivers
- 211 reads
When Ovid Peets was in second grade, he was given his first pencil. It was Ovid's responsibilty to keep it on his desk and keep it sharp. The teacher, Miss Goddard, had sharpened the pencils. She warned the students to be careful with the pointed objects. Ovid was pround of his pencil.
Miss Goddard warned the students about sword fighting with thei pencils because they were dangerous and could produce lead poisoning in a wound. She would not hesitate to take the pencil away from anyone who misused it.
Immediately after Miss Goddard's warning, Ovid turned back in his desk to show David Missile his pencil. A swordfight immediately ensued and David thrust his pencil directly into Ovid's palm. The lead broke off into Ovid's palm directly into his life line.
It hurt but Ovid couldn't make a sound. He didn't want to get himself nor David in trouble. He was bleeding. He wiped the blood off with his handkerchief and did his best to remove the lead. A significant piece of the lead stayed in his hand. He didn't know it at the time but the piece of lead ended up directly in the middle of his life line.
The life line is one of the five main lines read in palmistry. It extends around the thumb. The life line is usually in an arc around the base of the thumb, starting between the index finger and the thumb and ending near the wrist.
In palm reading, the length of the life line has no relationship with how long one could live. It reflects one's health and physical vitality.
Ovid had a long and clear life line with a big arc which contained an upward fork.
Ovid's Mom who knew a thing or two about palmistry was proud of Ovid's long, clear, upward forked life line which indicated a long life. She was very upset when Ovid returned from school that day when she noticed the blood on his handkerchief and inquired how it got there. She was more upset when Ovid showed her the wound. She tried her best to remove the surviving lead but was unable to get it all. Ovid couldn't tell if she were more horrified or angry. He thought for sure that he would die of lead poisoning that night. His Mom sterilized the wound and carefully bandaged it. She felt that she had removed the "deadly" segment of the lead. She told him not to tell his father what had happened. She was pretty sure that his father wouldn't notice. Ovid started to believe that he would survive and he begged his Mom not to tell Mrs Goddard about the injury or else he and David would probably lose their pencils and maybe even have to see the pricipal. Ovid's Mom said she would keep an eye on the healing and wouldn't mention it to anybody unless it started to fester at which case Ovid would be taken to the hospital and the teacher would be informed of the misconduct.
Ovid kept the dressing on his hand for the next few days. He was afraid to look. By the third day, he removed the bandage and was thriled to see that the puncture had already healed over and all that remained was a gray shadow in his palm.
His Mom decided that the wound was healing beautifully. He could remove the bandage. She would keep the secret, which he did and so did he.
For the next dozen years, Ovid forgot about the lead as best he could but often he would look at his palm and see the shadow. His mother explained the life line and the significance of the shadow. Ovid kinda expected to be shot in the middle of his life.
He never shared his wound nor his fear with anyone until he met Julia and fell in love. He showed her the lead shortly after proposing to her after they had met in Junior College during the class of metaphysiction conducted by Thornton Krell. He confessed his worry asbout the length of his life and the possibility of a sudden end to it. Julia comforted him. She had secrets of her own to share. Julia was not one to jest at scars. She didn't make fun of his secret and he respected hers. After the sharing, Julia kissed his palm. She told him about the wounds in the palms of Jesus. She encouraged him to be proud Whenever they walked hand in hand, she would rub the hand with her finger tips in the most gentle of ways.
Four decades later, Ovid is still going and has certainly passed more than half of his life. The lead has vanished from obvious sight. Healing and understanding will do that to a wound.
No one knew about David Missile. Turns out he was drafted, went to Viet Nam and didn't make it back.
- Log in to post comments