Purum stubbed his big toe, but it wasn't just the toe that hurt — his whole leg was aching.
Didi goes around asking our body, "Why does everything hurt?" — one part at a time.
With a dancing skeleton as a special guest, we peek at how bones and muscles work hand in hand.
"Ow, ow, ow… it's just my toe, so why does my whole leg hurt?"
"Ow… ow, ow, ow…"
Purum comes hopping in on one foot, limping with every step.
He says he banged his big toe on the doorstep — and his face is all scrunched up in pain.
"Didi, something's weird. It's just one toe that got hurt… but my calf is throbbing, my thigh is sore, my whole leg aches."
Saerom, watching from the side, shakes her head. "Come on, Purum, you're being dramatic~ Right, Popo?"
But I wasn't so sure. He really does look like he's in pain, not just faking it. How can one hurt toe make everything up the leg hurt too?
I asked Popo — "Are they really all connected?"
Popo floated over and gently pressed on Purum's leg. "It makes perfect sense that it's not only the toe that hurts."
"Why?" I leaned in closer.
"When the toe bone gets hurt, the muscles wrapping that toe and the muscles that move the foot get startled and tense up hard. Then the calf and thigh muscles connected to them all tighten up in a chain reaction."
"Wait, all of that is connected?!" Saerom's eyes went wide. She was the one calling it dramatics — now she looked even more surprised.
I still couldn't quite believe it, so I asked again. "For real? How are they connected?"
Popo tapped the button above. "Words alone won't do it justice. Let's go ask the body directly."
"Who are you?" A dancing skeleton appeared!
"Transform! Hiyah, yah!" Popo stretched out a hand toward Purum —
Purum's skin shimmered and faded away, leaving behind a rattling white skeleton!
"Whoa! What's this?!" Purum held up his arm and was even more shocked. "I had this many bones inside me all along?"
Skeleton Purum rolled his shoulders and wiggled his knees. Not scary at all — actually pretty cute. Our special dancing skeleton guest had arrived!
"Hey, can I ask you things one by one?" I raised my hand. I had so many questions.
From head to toe — interviewing the bones
First up, the round skull. "What do you do?"
The bowl-shaped skull seemed to glow in answer. It wraps snugly around the brain to protect it, and makes room for the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. It's like wearing a built-in helmet.
Next, the long curved ribs. Twelve pairs arch like bows to form one big basket — with the lungs and heart tucked safely inside.
"Put your hand on your chest and take a big breath." I tried it just like Popo said — and when I breathed in, the ribs spread out a little, then drew back in. Wow, bones that move!
At the center of the back stood a thick column made of interlocking segments — the spine. It's also called the backbone. It holds the whole body upright, right in the middle.
Below that is the pelvis. It links the spine to both legs. It receives the body's weight from above and passes it down to the legs — that's why we can walk.
"The finger bones are tiny like beans, but there are 27 of them." Skeleton Purum wiggled his fingers. So many little segments are what let us move our fingers any way we want.
"How do bones stay attached?" — The joint answers
Here I had to ask the most burning question. "But how do bones stay joined and still bend like that?"
The elbow and wrist lit up in response. Joints. The places where bones meet and connect. Because of them we can bend and straighten our arms, and spin our wrists around.
"Try rotating your wrist in a circle." I gave it a slow spin — and there was a smooth rolling sensation inside. That's the joint doing its work.
Skeleton Purum chimed in. "My grandma says her knees hurt a lot. Popo says when joints get used a lot over a long time, they can wear down and hurt." We'd better treat them gently.
"How many bones do I have?" — A surprising number
"Popo! How many bones are in our body altogether?" No matter how hard I tried to count, I had no idea.
"Adults have about 206. But…" Popo grinned. "Newborn babies have around 450."
"What?! Tiny babies have more?!" I totally did not see that coming.
It turns out that as we grow, smaller bones fuse together, so the count goes down. The bones also harden — and once they're hard, they stop growing longer, which is why our height levels off when we become adults.
