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Aiden is thinking. Then he says, "This is deep. Maybe I’ll dream about it or something.”
He says that because he's remembering a story Mom told during their infinity group. Here it is:
Mom says, "Here's a story about what can happen sometimes when you work hard on a problem, and then leave it for a while.
“A while back, when chemists were still figuring out the molecular structures of various chemicals, this chemist, August Kekulé, was trying to analyze a new substance, but it was confusing him. What he knew about it seemed to be contradictory. He worked hard on the problem and wasn’t getting anywhere.
“One night he dreamed about a snake biting its own tail. He woke up and suddenly he could see what would make the contradictions go away. Up until then, all the chemical structures people had figured out looked kind of like tree roots when you drew a diagram. But this chemical had a ring structure, with 6 carbons in a circle, and 6 hydrogen atoms attached to those like spokes going out. It’s called benzene now.”
She was drawing the snake and the chemical structures on the board while she talked.
I’d heard this one before, but apparently no one else had. Aiden looked very surprised. Kiara had a funny smile on her face. And Sofia was drawing a wonderful snake, and nodding.
Rudy. “The snake told him!”
Mom. “You could say that. Anyway, it might be a good idea to let our candy problem stew until next week, so we can sleep on it."