Falling Gravity (Season 01)

WT (3)

Pacifica took a bite of the fish she was served — one of the fishes she and her family had fished on the lake. She swallowed it and smiled. "This is delicious!" she said.

"I agree with Paz!" Gideon said, with food on his mouth.

"Gideon, swallow your food before speaking." Ms. Corduroy said.

Gideon swallowed the food and smiled nervously. "Sorry,"

"Well, after we're done eating the fish, we can get the ice cream," Bud said with a grin.

"Yay! Ice cream!" Gideon cheered.

"What flavour will mom choose for us?" Pacifica asked.

"Well," Ms. Corduroy said. "I think I'd like a—"

The doors of the place were slammed open, a man stood at the door with a panicked face and sweat on his forehead — or probably whole body. "They exist! They exist!" he shouted.

Pacifica frowned as the man ran inside screaming. "They exist! They exist!"

"What is going on in here?" Pacifica asked.

Ms. Corduroy sighed. "That's a crazy man," she said. "He always does this."

"I thought he was banned from the lake?" Bud asked.

"His brother is the owner," Ms. Corduroy replied. "He lives here too."

"They exist!" the man shouted again. He jumped on a table and tapped his feet on it. The couple that was sitting on it looked up with annoyed faces. "The Cult of the Taoist Eye hides in this water!"

Pacifica unwillingly started to pay more attention to the man. Her mom said he was crazy — but she was oblivious to the town's supernatural, wasn't she? Gideon told her of that. What if he actually isn't crazy? She didn't know, but she wanted to.

"They erase your memories, worship demons, kill innocent people for their sacrifices!" the man shouted louder. "You don't remember, but I do!"

Erase memories? How weird. But at the same time, made slight sense. Maybe her parents were victims of this cult — No one could be so oblivious to the fantastical town and their own son's adventures, and not even suspect a thing? That was surely weird. The idea of a cult that worshipped demons and erased memories was terrifying, but Pacifica's adventurous instincts spoke louder than her fear. Wait, did he just say worship demons? Kill innocent people to sacrifice them?! This was getting worse and worse.

"Pacifica, my child, are you okay?" Mrs. Corduroy asked.

Pacifica looked at her. "Um, yes, I am." she said. "Why do you ask, mom?"

"Because you're eating your nails." Mrs. Corduroy gestured to Pacifica's hand on her mouth, her teeth almost biting her fingertip.

Pacifica looked down, realising that she in fact was eating her nails and almost biting her hand as well. She pulled her hand away from her mouth. "Oh. . . Sorry."

"Are you stressed?" Gideon asked. "Is something worrying you? Some people eat their nails when stressed, nervous or anxious." he turned to Mrs. Corduroy. "Right, mom? That's what you told me. Right?"

"Yes, Gideon, that's correct." Mrs. Corduroy replied.

"It's that weird man, isn't it?" Bud asked.

"No, it's fine, I just got a bit scared thinking of this." Pacifica said — half lying.

"Don't worry, my daughter, this cult is not real," Ms. Corduroy said. "That man is a fanatic, he's been doing this since I was your age."

"How old is he?" Pacifica asked.

"I'd love to know." Ms. Corduroy said.

Gideon gasped. He approached Pacifica and whispered: "What if he's a vampire? Or a zombie?"

Pacifica took a glance at the man. She shook her head. "Can't be," she whispered. "Vampires don't stay out in the sun, besides, he wasn't invited in here," she said. "Zombies walk in a weird way, besides disguising themselves as teenagers."

Gideon turned to the man. The man tapped his feet on the table as he kept shouting: "They're going to take you next! Hide your children! Gather weapons! Hunt them down!" his arms swung in the air like noodles.

Gideon giggled. "He does move weirdly."

"Someone needs to call security." Ms. Corduroy said.

"I think we should leave," Bud said. "By the state this is, someone already did." he added. "It's better if we just stop hearing him."

Pacifica didn't want to go yet. She was very curious about this. But part of her instincts were doubtful — old conspiracies of hers were proven wrong by her own investigations in the past. Maybe her mother was right, this man was just crazy. Bud left his payment on the table, he stood up with Pacifica, Gideon and his wife and the four left the place. Gideon saw some rocks on the way out, he started to jump on them without touching the actual floor — as if he would fall into a void if he missed the rock steps.

"We're still getting ice cream, right?" Gideon asked, stepping on the pavement of the parking lot.

"Yes, we are!" Bud said. "But we're finding a different ice cream shop, to avoid seeing that man again."

"Okay!" Gideon turned to Pacifica. "What do you think, Paz?"

"I think that man is not as crazy as our parents think." Pacifica thought, expecting Gideon to read her mind — literally.

Gideon blinked twice, his smile disappeared from his face. Bud opened the car's door and went inside on the driver seat, his wife went to the passenger seat. Gideon smiled and ran to the left side of the car, opening the door and going inside. Pacifica followed him and closed the door after. They put on their seatbelts.

Bud turned his head to the siblings on the backseats. "To the ice cream store!"

Gideon raised his arms. "To the ice cream store!"

Pacifica smiled. "To the ice cream store."

Bud put his hands on the steering wheel and stepped on the accelerator.

The car didn't move.

He tried again and again, but the car kept frozen. The only reaction heard of it were the loud sounds it made when Bud tried to move. "Weird," Bud said.

"Did something break our car?" Ms. Corduroy asked.

"But what could it be?" Bud asked.

Pacifica and Gideon shared a look. Bud sighed. "I'll be right back." He took off his seatbelt, opened the door and got out — all in a fluid movement.

The siblings waited inside of the car with their mom. Gideon approached Pacifica. "Hey," he whispered. "Why do you think the man's not wrong?"

"Because it makes sense!" Pacifica whispered, slightly loudly than a whisper should be. "C'mon, how come our town is so oblivious to its own magic and supernatural? Maybe not everything he said was true, but maybe, there is a cult erasing memories here."

Gideon put a hand on his chin, looking down to his seat. "I guess that makes sense," he turned back to Pacifica. "But who could prove it?"

Pacifica smiled — a confident adventurous filled with pride. Gideon immediately understood what that smile meant, what was the answer to his question.

She could.