The Sequestering of a Radical Salad

“Begin with defining oxidative stress. The writing should be clear, concise and to the point. In essence it is the opposite of the sort of creative writing that you do. This will be challenging for you. You need partition your thinking, try to put a wall between the creative and the scientific…”
I felt myself getting smaller and smaller in my chair, the stack of papers scribbled with red ink getting larger on my lap. My professor spoke from a behind a castle of books surrounded by a moat of papers. My desk at home was more like a barricade of sandbags, subject to the occasional assault from grenade outbursts.
As he continued on, I began to imagine the wall. A stone-wall, thick and indestructible. I am trapped by it, shadowing myself on either side. I look around the room to see that I am walled in. I scream but my voice just echoes. On the far wall there is a long white cot. I sit on the edge, and begin to imagine…

Chapter 1: Oxidative Stress
Hydroxyl radical was a child of Superoxide Radical and Hydrogen Peroxide, who had a one-night affair in a metal bar for transients. The bar was called the Iron bar, news of the pregnancy destroyed them. Hydroxyl Radical was left on her own. She was a restless child, full of insecurities. She was the sort of girl who would latch on to any man who made eyes at her. She met a nice man by the name of carbon at a young age, not far from her place of birth. He was a fat man; everyone on Polyunsaturated Fat street was. He lived between two double bonds. He was happy to be in the company of such a lively young creature. He tolerated her abuse. The day that she left him, he was a changed man. She had stolen one of his electrons. She left him with all of her issues, her insecurities, and her restlessness. After that, the first woman he met, he moved in with him. She was twice the oxygen that hydroxyl was. She was also a thief, and she nurtured Carbons wounded spirit to support her in her life of thievery. Together, the two of them took an alias, peroxyl radical. They went looking in other neighborhoods for electrons to steal. Then one day, Oxygen told Carbon she had met the most curious woman. She was a foreigner from the land of plant matter, who had flown in on a sunflower seed. She was a Vitamin named Tocopherol, E for short. She had given one of her electrons to Oxygen, saying that she could just get another one anytime she needed it from her friend vitamin C. Oxygen and Carbon were so touched by the spirit of giving shown by Vitamin E, that they decided to give up their life of thievery.

The professor still was speaking "...they don't hand out degree's for near misses you know. As you go on from here to continue your writing, forget not the famous words of Mark Twain, who once began a letter by saying 'I had not the time to write you a short letter, so I am writing you a long one.'"

The dressing:
shake together
4 Tbsp sunflower oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp honey
1 tsp maple syrup
tiny squeeze of lemon if you have one around

The salad:
Dice 1/2 medium red cabbage. Add 4 carrots, shredded (use a food processor if you have one). Add 1 1/2 cups sunflower seeds.

Christina's vote: "I'm gonna eat the whole thing-don't judge"