Laura relaxed her face and pondered, because the answer could be simple or complicated. She finished her mouthful of mashed potatoes and gravy and went for simple. “Physical therapists are experts in the way people move and operate their bodies. Humans are biological machines, right? We have levers and joints and tendons and muscles, and everything works together. Break one part and the whole machine falls out of whack, break more than one and it can crumble completely. PTs help people regain strength and function after they’ve had an illness or accident.” She shrugged. “That’s simplifying it, but even a small injury can have a huge impact if it stops you from living your life the way you want to.”

“I broke my big toe when I was pregnant,” said Maggie, helping herself to more vegetables, “and firstly, it was almost as painful as childbirth, I’m not even joking, and it took forever to heal. Walking was impossible for weeks.”

Laura nodded. “The big toe is completely pivotal to walking upright, and gets no respect until it’s injured.” She stood and kicked off her sandal. “Watch.” She took a slow step and demonstrated. “You hit the ground with your heel first, then roll forward through your foot, and then you actually push off using your big toe. Break that puppy and walking is really hard.” She sat back down. “And of course injuries can be much more serious and complicated, and sometimes you need a team of PTs and other therapists working together.” She blushed. “I don’t really know that much yet. I start the program next month.”

“How long is the program?” asked Maggie.

“Three years. It’s a doctor of physical therapy, it’s pretty intense.”

“What made you want to do it?” asked Maggie. “And why here?”

Laura sighed. She didn’t want to go into it in detail, but there was something about Maggie that made it easy to talk. “Well, my undergraduate degree is in biology, like I said, and originally I was going to keep doing that, getting my PhD and going into research or something.” She felt her chest start to tighten up the way it did when she had to explain herself, and wondered if it would get easier soon. “But then, before graduation, I got into an accident and was badly hurt. I was in the hospital for weeks, and it took a really long time to walk again and things like that. It made me, you know, reevaluate.”

“Is that why you have a limp?” Polly asked, mildly ashamed of being nosy, but not enough to not want to know. It’s not the kind of thing you can ask about immediately, at least not once you leave preschool, but she’d wondered.

Laura nodded.

“What kind of accident was it?” continued Polly, hoping for something interesting like being crushed by a falling piano, or attacked by a tiger.