365 Ficlets - Day #41 ~ “Careless”

[maleghasty]

Eva pulled her hand back, shocked by the heat. She had not expected the stove to be on and so had simply reached out for the pan to pick it up by its rim.

The dull pain of a burn was already throbbing in her fingers as she plunged her hand into the cold water standing in the sink. She pulled the plug out and turned the cold tap on with her other hand, so that she could hold the affected area under cold running water.

As she stood there, attempting to protect herself from a nasty blister and a scar, she cast her gaze out across the beach. She knew that she often took for granted that she lived right on the beach, or as near as dammit at any rate. The deck outside the kitchen door ended a few feet from the sea wall, and the beach was the other side of that.

The sun was setting, and she could see Jake sitting in his usual place, playing. She wondered why he always came down to the beach to play at sunset; he would get a lot more from busking in the daytime, particularly on a Sunday when there were tourists.

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Originally published at TechnoMage. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[lefin1.livejournal.com]

I make neon lights for a living. I've had my share of burns. I've learned to not put the burn in cold water or ice. That just makes it feel worse and makes it blister. Instead, I put the burned area back over the flames to warm it up, but within reason. It seems absurd, and it hurts like hell, but it won't hurt anymore after that. It won't blister. The same applies with sunburns. Going in the hot tub takes the pain away. I've had some friends that went to Jamaica. The both got sunburned. The wife agonized for days in the hotel room and had a miserable time. The husband went into the hot tub the first night and had a great time for the rest of the vacation.

Not to detract from your writing at all, but that's my experience with burns. I like to pass on that advice to people, even though it seems totally opposite of how most people treat burns.