Nillicinep Leeuwenhoek de Petri

Tash, as usual, was poised on the floor.  His homework, currently splayed out before him in a disorganized swath, arched in a semicircle around him.  Riffling through his papers, he selected a history worksheet, and began to look over the questions.  He had set his timer a few moments earlier, and was determined to finish his homework faster than he had ever done before.  He angled his eyebrows with a determined expression, clicked his mechanical pencil to extract more of the graphite, and began to write the answers as fast as his scribbling hand would allow.  

When Mauri entered the room, she noticed nothing unusual about her younger brother, who was furiously doing his homework as if he would never see it again.  And as if it was actually worth doing.  It seemed to be a habit of his.  She did notice, however, one thing that seemed out if place.

  "Tash, what's that?" she asked, walking over to her brother, who was still sitting on the floor.

"What's what?"  He responded monotonously.  

Tash mentally slapped himself.  He had broken his concentration!  He reassured himself by taking a glance at the timer that was obliviously ticking in sync with a dripping faucet somewhere else in the house.  He was still breaking his record.   

"That thing by your elbow."  Mauri pointed to the light-reflecting object that had attracted her attention.  

"Oh, that."

He snapped his eyes back to his homework, resolutely.  

Thats not an answer." Mauri pointed out, raising her eyebrows. The object of consideration was some sort of circular disk, about an inch high, with a circumference that could not have been bigger than that of a tea saucer.  She bent down to pick up said object when it was subsequently snatched from her grasp.

"I don't want you touching that.  You might get grossed out or something." Tash informed her, looking up from his homework for the first time.

Despite his previously unwavering fixation on his assignment, he couldnt let her touch that of all things.  

"At least let me look at it!" Mauri knelt beside her brother and held out her hand.   A victim of chronic curiosity, she was not going leave until she had found out exactly what that thing was.  Tash must have sensed this, because after a moment of reluctance, he handed his treasure to his older sister.

"Okay, but be careful.  Do not shake it, squeeze it or sneeze on it.  If any harm were to befall that..."

Anticipating a lecture, Mauri cut him off.  "Okay, I get it.  I know how to be careful." She peered at the mystery object, noticed it was some sort of clear, plastic container.  And was that... Gel?  And what was that film of blue-green fuzz that frosted the top of...  Then it hit her.

"A petri dish?  You're carrying around a petri dish?" Leave it to Tash to carry his science projects around the house.  She thought with amusement.  She also thought that she should have figured it out much sooner.

"Well, yeah.   Why else would I have it here while I'm doing my homework?" Tash responded matter o' factly.

He went back to his homework, which currently was a math worksheet, and printed the answer 46 in neat handwriting.

"Well, you always eat a snack after finishing your homework."

Mauri, that's disgusting."

He continued to scribble.

"But I seem to recall your fondness for blue cheese.  You know what makes it blue, don't you?"

Mauri was quite pleased that she was managing to draw Tash from his homework.  It was quite an accomplishment.  Tash on the other hand, was getting a bit annoyed.

"Since when have I liked blue cheese?  Last time I checked, you were the cheesy one of this family."

Tash meant his remark to be a snappy retort, perhaps something to make his sister allow him to finish his homework in peace, but alas:  It only caused Mauri to laugh, and continue to distract him.

"What's it for anyway?" she inquired, handing the petri dish back to her brother.  "It's for a science project, right?"

Tash put his petri dish down on the floor, and continued to work.  He did, however, favor his sister with an answer.

"No.  You know how Mom is allergic to animal hair?  And I really wanted a pet, so...

"You grew mold?  To keep as a pet?"

To say that Mauri was incredulous would be an understatement.  There was no way that fuzzy blue stuff could pass as a pet.

"I don't think Mom is going to appreciate you carrying around a container of mold, Tash."  She pointed out, cocking her head to the side.

Tash, who must have already thought of the issue began defending his choice if pet with an "I won't carry him to the dinner table!" he continued using a more philosophical method of persuasion.

"Will a pet like this eat my homework?" he began, taking his pencil off his paper, and looking up at his sister.

"No." she replied, already seeing were the conversation was going.

"Will he make a mess on the couch?"

"No, he can't even get on the couch."

"Will he bother you when you're trying to study?"

"Alright, Sophocles, you win." Mauri relented, smiling slightly.

"Don't I always?" Tash replied, once again tilting his head in the direction of his awaiting worksheet.  With a thought like an electric shock, he realized that he had been distracted yet again.  This time, he was determined would not easily swayed from his incessant obligation again.  The timer was still ticking, and now he had to make up for lost time.  

Mauri, like most girls her age, saw homework as a nuisance.  She also could see that Tash felt none of this inconvenience when doing his homework, and felt it was her duty to help him empathize with the rest of teenage humanity.  So she decided to keep annoying him.

She began her ploy by asking him a question she knew she he wanted to answer.

"Now that you have a pet" she paused at the word "pet".  She was still incredulous at the announcement.  "What did you name it again?"

Tash didn't look up from the paper he was scribbling on.  From what Mauri could see, it was some sort of essay outline.  An essay outline that was a bit too organized for Mauri to abandon her scheme in distracting her brother from his academic activities.

"Well...?"

There was no answer other than Tash's subtle scribbling.  Mauri fancied she could almost make out a "leave me alone" amid the scratching of his pencil.

"Oh, come on!" She said in an almost mocking tone.  "You go to the trouble of growing mold in a petri dish, declare it as your knew pet, and you don't have a name for it?" Mauri paused to take a breath. Tash didn't respond, so she finished of her speech with "I thought you were smarter than that."  In a joking tone.

To Mauri's delight, the pencil ceased to mark the paper.  Joking or not, Tash did not enjoy his intelligence being questioned.  He disliked it. He hated it.  He ABHORRED it.   However, he did not dislike his sister.  So he decided to favor her with an answer.

"Nillicinep Leeuwenhoek de Petri." he said, patting the short cylinder beside him.  He then remembered his resolve not to get distracted from his work.  He mentally face-palmed himself.

"Nilliceli... What?" Mauri did expect Tash to have a name for his...thing...but she didn't expect it to be so long.

Once again, Tash looked up from his homework, his concentration broken beyond a quick repair.  He wanted to answer the question, as he was quite proud of the answer. Again, he gave into Mauris antics with the consistent sound of the timer still ticking in his ear.  

"Nillicenep is penicillin backwards.  Thats what kind of mold he is." He began, explaining each part if the long name. "Leeuwenhoek is the father of microbiology.  I wanted him to have a good namesake."

"That's the guy who invented pasteurization, right?" Mauri intervened.  Tash nodded and continued.

"And petri is for the dish he lives in." Tash concluded, picking up his prized fungi, and showing it to Mauri.  "He has quite the name to live up to."

Mauri stared at her brother with a slightly blank expression.  "Do I have to memorize that?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Tash stared back; a bit miffed that she didn't follow his explanation closer.  "I just call him Lucas." he admitted after a quick stare down with his sister.

"Lucas?" She asked, wondering how in the world he could reduce a twenty nine letter name into one if five.

"Yes, Lucas.  Now I seem to recall that I have some homework to get back to."

A note of determination had crept onto his voice.  He was going to finish his homework as quickly as possible, or go down trying.

"Now stop distracting me!" He added the order with much enthusiasm, and Mauri started to grin.

"What makes you think I will listen?  I just started to have fun!"  A note of amusement crept into her voice, and she developed a mischievous half smile.

"What makes you think you can stop me?" She added, smirk growing wider.

Tash looked desperately about for resources.  He looked at the petri dish, and then back at his sister.  He repeated the action another time.

"If you keep bothering me" he began, formulating a plan.

"What?" Mauri said, skeptical that anything could come between her and her mission if distracting Tash.

Tash began his reply, a bit uncertainly, but quickly dropped the 'un'.

"I'll... I'll throw Lucas at you!"

"What?"

"I will throw Lucas. At you."

"You wouldn't!"

"Mold is very resilient. I can't say as much for your hair."

Mauri stroked her hair nervously.  Would Tash really throw his newly acquired pet to banish her from the room?

Tash bounced the petri dish in his hand, and looked quite threatening.  Or at least as threatening as one can look holding a petri dish.

Positioning his hand, Lucas clutched inside, he jerked his arm forward.

Mauri didn't take any chances.  She jumped up and dashed out the room, hoping to protect herself from a cloud of possibly infectious spores.  Talk about a mushroom cloud.

Tash on the other hand, who had never catapulted his precious pet, set Lucas down in its original spot beside him.  Tash patted it, and attacked his homework, pencil in hand, and began to try to make up for lost time.

But alas, it was not to be.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRING!  

The timers alarm caused Tash to jolt in his seated position.  NO!  He bemoaned the loss of the record he unquestionably would have set if it werent for his sisters sidetracking antics.  Maybe he would throw Lucas at her next time.  After all, if he got damaged, he would always grow back&

Mauri, who had figured out her brother's deception, burst through the door, ran to her brother, who was still seated in the floor, snatched up Lucas, and dashed to the exit.

"Ah hahahahahaha!"

"MAURI, GIVE ME BACK MY MOLD!"