September 12, 2012
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How to Thaw a Frozen Heart
Take the heart out of the freezer. Do so when you have the time and energy to prepare it properly. It may have turned greyish-brown in some spots. This is freezer burn. Freezer burn occurs as a result of all the holes poked in the packaging that were supposed to keep the heart safe. When the constantly vibrating water molecules in the heart migrate to the surface, perhaps excited by some change in freezer temperature that beckoned of false spring, crystals of ice are formed. Those heart segments are now deprived of moisture. They become dry and shriveled and look burnt. But the heart itself is still safe, merely marred.
Take your shirt off. Wear pants or shorts that you can afford to stain. Defrosting is messy work. Cradle the heart in your hands. Envelop the uncovered side of the heart with your chest. The resulting cold may seem unbearable at first. But if the heart can be encased in such frigidity for so long, so can you.
Wait for the blood to flow. The time to flow depends on how cold the freezer was and how long the heart was in the freezer. The flow will be slow at first. The blood will merely be a slow stream dripping down your sternum to your navel and onto your pants. Continue to cradle the heart. Do not believe it is thawed just because the outer layer has warmed where it has touched your chest. The inner core is still locked in ice. It has not yet begun to pump.
Make sure you have newspapers or other coverings nearby. The first pumps of blood from the heart tend to be spastic, random showers of blood. As with onions, connecting with the core may cause your eyes to become irritated and filled with moisture. Do not worry if your tears drip onto the heart. The salt of your tears may burn as it first hits the heart, but salt melts ice and preserves the heart. Try to ensure that the tears fall on the areas most affected by freezer burn. Those areas have lacked the most moisture and need it most. Continue cradling the heart until it beats rhythmically once more. The heart is now ready to serve. See that you serve it well, as it deserves.
Comments (31)
One of my acquaintances had a frozen heart, battered by neglect, until
she grew cold indeed. For a while, I debated thawing out that heart. But
you can’t thaw a heart and walk away from it. Because I am weird, I
started imagining it in real terms instead of metaphorical terms. And I
realized I couldn’t do the job from start to finish, so I never thawed it out. Someone else did,
and all’s well that ends well.
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” CSL
This is a amazing piece...Very Beautiful indeed!!!
This is a brilliantly-written allegory which, I have to say, creeped me the heck out. : )
@lanney - I'm with you! Greek, get a pet!
Are you trying to give me a heart attack?
You have a broken heart?
I traded my heart in for an advanced trilinear warp drive. Sure, it doesn't have the same feel, but it can get me from zero to warp 9.995 in 3.4 seconds and channel enough energy to generate gravimetric rifts in space.FREAKIN BLACK HOLES, MAN
@AmyDoo - Maybe we should take up a collection and buy the poor man a bunny.
Nicely written piece, but don't you know we live in a microwave age now? Throw that sucker in for a few minutes, at half power works best, and presto.
Don't worry if you happen to burn it, hearts come pretty cheap these days, just go buy another one.
Interesting way to put it. What if the heart was all ground up and burned very badly before it froze? Like someone stomped all over it and kicked it around quite a bit?
@QuantumStorm - nice, but it will never generate enough to fill the black hole WHERE YOUR HEART ONCE WAS
Awesome piece. Guess I am just not ready to open the freezer door.
I love this, and I know how that feels. Well done.
@complicatedlight - Well that explains my EPIC APPETITE (and the heartburn that comes after on occasion)
This was absolutely fantastic writing. Bravo!
didn't work, then i remembered, it's not frozen; it's a stone.. oh wells,
@QuantumStorm - be careful, if you stumble into warp 10 it can dislodge you from reality.
@IntoTheWind1 - Lol, nice addition.
Nice. Lol
@complicatedlight -
Interesting, creative piece.
very responsible of you to not start a job you couldn't see to completion. once its thawed and walked away from it freezes right back up again, only this time subject to a lot more freezer burn.. awesome imaginitive writing
LOVE this.
Awww.
Very beautiful, Greek. And I agree with @jersey_jenn. Very responsible and also good use of self-awareness and foresight. Glad all's well that ends well with your acquaintance. And, as always, best wishes and prayers!
well that was a unique writing. quite descriptively visual.
Good.
"I've got an ice box where my heart used to be."
Beautiful post, it was sad to read it... especially when it came to the salty tears pouring on it. Very sad actually <3
Wow.
I love me some awesome allegories.
Well, you nailed it... Sad, but true. I don't think I've ever heard a broken heart described so vividly.
Neat post. At the end when you say the heart is ready to serve, I couldn't help but think someone is going to have a heart to eat for dinner.
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