AMY was extremely popular!
All the other molecules treated her like a hot commodity. There were very few isoamyl acetates in her new home and she was very welcomed. The reason? Everyone knew her little community were responsible for their bottle smelling so nice. Although they were few and far between, together they contributed to the subtle aroma that pleasantly permeated their new abode. AMY was extremely proud of this strength in numbers.
Aside from her scattered brethren, AMY was enthralled by all the characters around her. Bubbly carbon dioxides, boisterous ethanols and bitter acids…
However, AMY was most fond of the water molecules. There was one particular H20 who was often just hanging around her carbon oxygen double bond. He liked to be called FRANK. They had developed a cautionary friendship.
In particular, she loved listening to his stories! FRANK was around 4 billion years old. He refused to tell her his exact age! Water molecules could be really old and they were fairly stable when they were alone, so they didn’t like forming close bonds with others. Instead they just went around the cycle of life, over and over for millennia. FRANK of course had been simply everywhere and seen all kinds of changes! He regaled her with tales so extreme she didn’t know if they were all true.
In turn, he liked being around her. In his previous posting, he re-counted, he had spent several months in a waste sludge. Finally, it had gotten much warmer and he had been evaporated and brought to the clouds where he had then fallen as rain to be caught as drinking water. Therefore, FRANK was immensely grateful for this new posting, in particular the lovely scent that she and her brothers and sisters provided. FRANK kept on warning her not to get too comfortable. The life of a molecule was full of surprises.
One day the inevitable change occurred.
They had been stable for many weeks, chilling in the frost of their new environment when they all felt a jolt. It wasn’t as sudden or harsh as that of the vat during AMY’s first journey. Still, there was movement. They were on their way! AMY was excited! She wondered what would happen next!
Meanwhile, FRANK, buzzing around her seemed unperturbed, a striking veteran of such changes. He mused over what their next posting would be.
The movement stopped and AMY felt a little shock as the bottle was opened. Photons flowed in, and the effervescent carbon dioxides rushed to the surface. They said a loud hissing goodbye to everyone as they disappeared at the interface.
AMY felt a rush of propulsion upwards, she also wanted to reach the surface. Slowly she diffused upwards but then they heard a loud … unexpected... BOOM! A sound of pain shook the bottle
"AAAAAHHUU!! it stung me!"
Their bottle capsized…
...AMY found herself hurtling towards a bright patch of green …
...and was caught mercifully by a mess of carbons, oxygens, nitrogens and phosphorus.
She was followed by a thunderous crash. The body of an animal shot down from the sky and nearly flattened her. A massive, buzzing, suffering entity of black and yellow. It buzzed loudly as life departed it. Then as AMY looked she saw them! In the last place she expected to find them!
Isoamyl acetates!
Her bretheren! She recognised them so well! Identical from her in every aspect. They sped out from the now lifeless form of the gargantuan beast. The wind caught them and they breezed out into the open air, leaving behind only the vaguest memory of home.
The waves of light confused AMY’s senses. She lay there in the sun. FRANK was gone, she had lost him in the mix.
There were other water molecules around her.
AMY looked up in yearning where her isoamyl brothers and sisters had been swept away. She wanted to follow them. Slowly in the sun, she found the energy to extricate herself from the interactions around her that were holding her down. It happened with only the slightest warning. For the first time, AMY had the energy to evaporate into gaseous form.
Her bonds vibrated in energy and she soared towards the sky alone.
She was free! Carried by the winds. This was the fastest she had ever traveled! The lovely fragrance that had made her so loved was gone. That power only came to the isoamyl acetate through the strength of numbers.
Instead she enjoyed the world as it spread out before her. Just as she had imagined in her dreams: she floated alone and weightless, surrounded by shadows she didn't recognise.
This time, it wasn’t fantasy, or an unlikely distant memory. It was happening …
...the beginning of a new adventure.
REFERENCES:
Isoamyl acetates are not only found in the flavour for bananas, but are also an active component in the sting pheromone of the honey bee. When a bee releases it’s sting it releases isoamyl acetate to warn other bees of danger, making them more aggressive. This is why it is not recommended to have bananas around bees. Have a reference below :)
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