19 Gallium and Phos’s Illuminating Journey: Saving the Cave Captive

Phosphorus and Gallium

Gage Herian-Orr; Jayda Parker; and Cory Moeller (Illustrator)

In a world where stars whispered secrets and trees told tales of the past, there lived two particularly important  guardian spirits. Although they had hunted the same land, and drank from the same river, they never knew each other personally. One was a man who has lived a full life, while the other was a young boy who was just starting to learn the way of life. These two guardian spirits may not have been aware of one another, but they would eventually come to be quite close and well known. They were to be called by the sacred names of Gallium and Phos.

Phos, was an inquisitive boy who was eager to learn the ways of wisdom, and his family sought to find a suitable teacher for him. The family was told that Gallium was surely the wisest in the land and the family set out to find Gallium.  After many days of searching they found Gallium and begged him to take their son as a student.  Gallium agreed.

Phos’s newly discovered mentor would not go easy on him, as he knew that some life lessons don’t come easy, but he would make it nothing short of an adventure. Together, Phos and Gallium pushed boundaries, and learned powers they never knew were possible. Phos learned to channel anger into creating fire in the palm of his hand. He also learned to glow during the dark hours, which would be beneficial for hunting food during the night. During this journey of life lessons, Phos started to feel like he was strange for having these powers, as many around him didn’t.

Gallium recognized this feeling, as he felt the same way when he was a boy, so he showed Phos he wasn’t alone. Gallium told Phos of all his incredible abilities, such as melting at the slight touch of anyone, and being able to turn into a reflective substance (to which he used to help people self-reflect), along with being able to put off a blue light from his body. Phos realized that being different did not make him an outcast, but rather his powers were an honor and he had the responsibility to help his people with his gifts.  Phos began to feel better about his powers.

One dark and gloomy day, Gallium and Phos heard the cries of a young girl.  They ran to where the cries were coming from, but all they could see was a creepy cave, sealed by a huge metal door. A they walked closer, they realized a girl was trapped inside. She had been looking for blackberries, when she accidentally wandered over to an enemy’s territory without knowing. She was taken away and locked inside the cave.

Gallium and Phos knew exactly what they had to do. Gallium looked at the huge metal door, recognizing it had been made out of the metal gallium. He ordered Phos to channel his fiery palms, as they both knew the door could be melted easily. They rushed inside, where it was dark and scary, so they both activated their powers of light and found their way to the girl. She was locked in a cage, secured by an almost impossible lock, but Gallium had one hidden trick. He was able to turn the aluminum interior of the lock into a chalk-like substance, freeing the girl! They rescued her and took her back to her home, where her family rejoiced at her safety. Gallium, being such an excellent guide, recalled upon the girl to do a little self-reflection on the day’s events. She was grateful for his help and promised to always be careful.

Gallium continued to teach Phos in the ways of wisdom and compassion, and how to use their powers to honor the Earth and to protect the givers of life. Tales of the courage and wisdom of Gallium and Phos’ courage and wisdom spread throughout the land, entitling them as the bravest guardian spirits.

 

 

Facts:

Phosphorus was discovered before elements were known, and it was thought to be partially made of fire.

White phosphorus is a waxy, toxic solid that causes severe burns and glows in the dark.  Red phosphorus is non-toxic.

Gallium can melt in the palm of your hand!

Gallium is used in ultra-bright blue LEDs.

 

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Element Stories Copyright © 2023 by Students of CHEM 1140 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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