Metacognition

Metacognition

 By Scott L.

 “To be delusional, or not to be —that is the question.”

—After Hamlet

Scott L. had just returned

From the dental school—

The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, 1840.

The first of its kind in the world.

It stood there

Like a monument

To both progress and pain.

Because progress,

As Scott realized that morning,

Comes with a boat load of pain—

And sometimes, lightning. ⚡️

That piercing, eyeball-popping

White lightning

Had put him on his knees—

A flash so clean and cruel

It could have split the sky in half.

Half-delusional, half-determined,

He hopped onto his e-scooter

And tore through the city,

Dodging cars and crannies

Along the bumpy, world-renowned streets of Baltimore —

A symphony of potholes and purpose.

The city didn’t care about his pain,

But it reflected it —

Each jolt a reminder

That reality hurts.

Still, he pressed forward,

Seeking the one place

Where science meets suffering,

And faith meets novocaine.

Inside the school, he found others —

Faces drawn,

Jaws clenched,

Eyes telling the same story:

They too had seen the white lightning.

And in that small circle of misery,

Scott wondered aloud —

 If I know I’m half-delusional,

Does that mean I’m not?”

The others laughed,

A shared joke

That felt almost philosophical.

No one knew the answer,

But the laughter lightened the load.

Because maybe that was metacognition in real time —

The ability to stand inside the storm

And still ask if it’s raining. 🌩️

By the time Scott L. left the clinic,

His jaw was sore,

His spirit steadier.

Looking his way,

The long-haired, brown-eyed girl noticed him.

And Scott L. noticed her noticing him.

In that instant,

He was THUNDERSTRUCK

Because she had fully blushed.

The air was electrifying —

A THUNDERSTRIKE ⚡

For Scott L.,

Because he was elated

That he still had it going on.

So there you go,

Legendary hyperfantasy.

Enormous Thunderclap. 💥