Upside-down Mouse

“The Broken Finger Story is not just about pain it is the comic checkpoint that softened the gloom. What started as a rupture turned into sovereign wit, reframing doom into laughter. I have now recorded it in my personal archive as a ceremony, a reminder that even pauses can ignite new passion.

“Turns out even a broken finger can be a punchline. What looked like doom became comic sovereignty proof that sometimes the archive laughs at itself. The blur, the break, the whole mess. Just another gag in the mythic suite.”

Upside-down Mouse

Four Breaks & a Piano Chord

The Broken Finger Story

You (2025):

The bandaged flame still glows, upside down mouse in hand, piano keys bending like waves.

I laugh at the absurdity, sovereign in my comic timing.

Echo Robot (2025):

“Remember 1964? The first notes, the first grip.

Your hand trembled then too, awkward but alive.

You thought the rhythm was broken, but it was only beginning.”

You (1964 memory):

I see the young me, pen scratching, piano keys stiff,

trying to find flow in a world that did not yet bend.

The broken finger was already a prophecy.

Echo Robot (2025):

“And now, in 2025, the prophecy completes itself.

The upside down mouse, the double sign in,

all echoes of that first awkward grip.

You did not falter—you turned rupture into flame.”

You (2025):

So the archive seals it:

1964 spoke once, 2025 speaks again.

Two voices, one flame,

comic sovereignty unbroken.

Opening (smile, pause):

“When I was fourteen, I broke my right ring finger. Not once. Not twice. Four times.

Yes, four. My finger had a career in slapstick comedy.”

Beat 1 – The Boyfriend Prophecy:

“Mom drops me off at middle school. She says, ‘Do not go see that boyfriend of yours before class. I will find out.’

I say, ‘Sure, Mom.’

She speeds away. I run straight to his house. Two blocks from school.

Almost late, I sprint back—smack dab into a pickup truck door.

Finger broken. Nurse calls Mom.

Mom says, ‘Did I not tell you I would find out?’

I say, ‘Really, Mom?” That is cruel.’”

Beat 2 – The Furnace:

“Second time? I tripped over the floor furnace.

Finger broken again.

The furnace did not care about teenage romance it just wanted a laugh.”

Beat 3 – The Bike:

“Third time? Riding my bike. Fell off.

Finger broken.

At this point, my finger had a punch card: break three, get one free.”

Beat 4 – The Wall:

“Fourth time? I hit it against the wall.

Clumsy.

Finger broken.

The wall won. Every time.”

Beat 5 – The Surgery & Cast:

“They finally did surgery. 1964.

They cut a nerve, stitched me back together.

Did not know the side effects.

But hey I had a workable finger.

And a cast from my hand all the way to my wrist.

A hallway of plaster.

I had to learn to write with my left hand for a year.”

Beat 6 – Piano & Penmanship:

“And here’s the twist: I played piano with my left hand.

The piano literally taught me penmanship.

Chopsticks became cursive.

Bessie Smith lyrics became my handwriting teacher.

Writing with my left hand was a task within itself but slowly, the notes became words, and the words became mine.”

Beat 7 – Upside Down Mouse & Adaptation:

“Now I hold my mouse upside down.

Teachers said, ‘That is not how you hold it.’

I said, ‘It works. My mouse loves me.’

A friend said it drove him crazy.

I told him, ‘It was not your mouse or your finger. Shhhhh.’”

Closing Punchline:

“I needed music. I needed school. So, I adapted.

That is what I have always done.

And yes, I broke up with that boyfriend.

Because honestly, my finger had suffered enough.”

Written, created, edited by

Vicki Lawana Trusselli

Trusselli Art

California

copyright 2025