The Science of Breakable Things

One of Natalie’s mom’s favorite rules of science was that to understand what they don’t know, scientists must first investigate what they do know. Natalie, therefore, makes a list of what she knows regarding her mother and her sickness. She used to be very lovable because she had a certain “way” about her, “something like happiness” (43). Even a few months ago, she was happy and talked a lot about her research with plants and orchids. Then, she started having hushed conversations with her husband about not having enough funding, not having enough findings, and someone thinking she should take a break from work.

Natalie concludes that Mrs. Dana Menzer, Mikayla’s mother, must have fired her mother from the university lab. Even after 10 years of friendship and working together, Mrs. Menzer stopped believing in Natalie’s mother and her research. Natalie concludes that being fired caused her mother to get “sucked into the darkness” (45). Mrs. Menzer “broke” her mother, and now Natalie needs to find a way to “fix” her.

The assignment for Mr. Neely’s class is to keep working on their individual questions. Telling her father she’s doing research for class, Natalie asks what it means if someone only likes to be in the dark and why a person would stop caring about their family. He responds that what’s going on with her mother has nothing to do with her. Natalie feels that this attitude is precisely the problem, and she doesn’t want to talk to him anymore.

Natalie goes to her mom’s greenhouse. In the summer, her mother stopped taking care of her plants. Her father tried to save them but killed most of them by overwatering. Natalie sees the stem of what used to be a cobalt blue orchid. She reads the section of her mom’s book about this flower. In 1991, a pipe burst at a power plant in New Mexico, releasing toxic chemicals into the soil. All the flowers died, but two years later, blue orchids sprouted, although orchids are normally very delicate and die without the perfect amount of sunlight and water. However, they bloomed when no others could.

While Natalie’s mom and Mrs. Menzer studied cobalt blue orchids in their lab, Natalie and her mom kept their own flower at home in the greenhouse. Natalie’s mother “let it die” (52), but there’s still a field of the same type of orchids in New Mexico. Natalie thinks maybe her mother simply needs to be reminded that this type of beauty and magic exists.

Natalie used to dress up as a different plant every year for Halloween, and her mother helped create the costumes. This year, her mother doesn’t care about Halloween, so she pretends she is too old to wear a costume now. Twig is in Paris with her mom for the week.

Mr. Neely again asks Natalie if has a research question and suggests the egg drop. Dari, dressed as Mr. Potato Head, approaches her and asks what they were talking about, but she doesn’t tell him. Instead, they chat about Halloween and families.

Natalie reminds her mom about the cobalt blue orchids: They used to have one, but now it’s dead, and she had offered to take Natalie to New Mexico one day to see them, but they never went. Natalie’s mom seems confused by this, as if she either didn’t know their orchid died or doesn’t remember having an orchid in the first place. Natalie wants to go visit the orchids in New Mexico now, but her mom says they don’t have extra money for traveling.

Natalie revisits the flyer Mr. Neely gave her for the egg-drop competition. There’s a $500 prize for the winner. Natalie recalls that when she was five years old and sick all winter, her mother never left her side. She decides she needs to be there for her mother in return, instead of giving up on her. If she wins, she could use the prize money to take her mother to New Mexico to see the orchids, which would make everything go back to normal.

Natalie goes to the competition website to learn more. The eggs will be dropped from a height of three stories. They are judged based on whether they break, in addition to design and bounciness.

Natalie’s dad is making the pie that her mom normally makes for Thanksgiving. He’s a therapist, and he goes into what she calls “Therapist Dad” mode, but then he suggests Natalie see a therapist who isn’t a family member instead. She agrees to try an appointment but isn’t really paying attention. She thinks adults don’t care how she feels, and they just want her to be okay to make their own lives easier.

Mr. Neely is glad Natalie wants to participate in the competition, and he says Twig can work with her on it. Twig seems embarrassed by her mother’s excessive enthusiasm when they’re at her house. Natalie privately judges this: At least Twig’s mother is lively and moving around. Twig and Natalie begin brainstorming ideas for protecting the egg.

At home, Natalie digs through her dad’s office, searching for materials that might help protect the egg. Her mother asks what she is doing, but Natalie feels like she is “Not-Mom” and wants to shove her away. Her mom suggests using a plastic bag filled with cereal to protect the egg, which is what she did when she was a child. Natalie adds “cereal” to her list of ideas but does not verbally respond.