If you have put a pot of water to boil on more occasions than one, and you have stared it down as it comes to a boil, you know this is a time taking process. One of continuous heat application that finally leads to a bubbly storm.
My black G S5 Crystal induction stove has three levels of heat- 200, 400, and 1100.
200 degrees, are the small things. An annoying friend, a stupid day, things not going according to plan. The water will lay there still cool, still composed, and still very calm. The heat is only beginning to spread, stuck somewhere at the bottom of the pot. You can remove this pot from the heat if you really wish to… but beware, whatever you choose. This is the shortest phase, so whatever you decide, you must decide quick, and be content.
400 degrees, are memories that were and as you now realize, still are, too hot to touch. Past violence, death, disease- everything. At this moment to touch the pot with bare hands is foolishness, but not a scarring one. The little bubbles begin magically appearing at the bottom, only to roll up to the top and disappear again, much like these memory flashes. Although you may attempt to look away, you can still feel the pressure. This is the heat beginning to let you know that it exists. It is here, and it is coming for you.
1100 degrees, is to die a death- a metaphorical one. It is better to shut yourself down completely and run away to another place instead. But it will follow you. You will hear the pot, you will hear the water in the pot- a gurgling, rushing sound. It is too late to ignore this hot, hot pot. This degree will burn you. You will feel the impact of it long after it is done. This is nothing but the audacious man on the Yulu bike who groped you on a street at 4:30PM in the afternoon. It is his continued cock-show of going to the end of the lane and not turning the corner before he flashes his middle finger at you, and as he smugly looks at you to remind you that you can’t do anything for yourself, he will show you, with one finger resembling his penis and the other hand resembling a vagina- what he would do to you instead.
1100 degrees, is the symphony of bubbles and vapor that can burn you if you go close enough. It is the rumbling of your body and mind as it goes into a state of shock. The heat is the fever you wake up with the next day, still reeling in from the shock. It is the rumbling in your stomach as you get food poisoning, and can’t- or rather, don’t want to- move from your bed for the next three days.
Perhaps, loved ones can come in then, and switch the induction stove off for you. But there will still be steam rushing out of that pot, and no matter how much you try to fan it away, or even shut it close, it will continue to float out- the steam will always find a way.
Fortunately, heat must always cool down, and even if you cannot do anything immediately, time will help both you and it, to come back to your steady, calm self. Granted, you may be lesser than you were before, you may still be a little warm to the touch,
but Goddammit you will be the sweetest water one has ever tasted.
FreeRovingBovine 