Once upon a time, a little girl who was not actually so little (she could easily reach the bathroom sink) stared at the electrical outlet and wondered about electricity. How is it you could plug things into it, and the thing would miraculously come to life?

What would happen if you stuck something else in there? her curious brain wondered. Her eyes wandered across the counter surrounding the sink, at last landing upon a metal hair clip. Hmm, that looks like it might fit.

She picked it up, turning it over in her hands. And when she squeezed the spring-loaded end, the hair clip opened up. Her eyes lit up with delight. She could now fit two ends into the outlet at once! Surely this hair clip was meant to go into those narrow slits.

Lips parted in anticipation, she lifted the hair clip and positioned it in front of the electrical outlet.

Might this be a bad idea? a small part of her brain asked.

No, no, of course not, replied Curiosity, who was much stronger than Caution that day. How else would we find out what happens?

She inserted the hair clip.

ZOT!

A flash of blinding light accompanied the snapping pop.

The girl flinched, yanking her hand away as a flash of pain bolted up her fingers. The clip dropped onto the counter, as lifeless as it ever was.

She shook out her hand vigorously, as if flinging remnants of the jolt away like water droplets, then sucked on her fingers. That did not go as she had expected. Then again, she had expected nothing.

Peering at the offending outlet, her brow furrowed. A black smudge now spanned across its slits. Had she done that? She examined her fingers. They were not black.

Then she thought about her parents. Would they notice this black smudge and wonder how it got there? She took the hair clip and threw it into the cabinet under the sink. Evidence hidden. But the black smudge could not be wiped off.

With a shrug, she went about her little girl business.

The parents never asked her about the outlet, and to this day that black smudge still mars it, a bold reminder of a girl's curiosity.

Was that little girl me?

Maybe.