Reversal (Camren/Norminah)

Chapter 22: The Silent Hill

XXII. 

Trigger Warning - Graphic and potentially disturbing imagery

We may both be humans, but my eyes have seen a world far different than yours have. The eyes that you see through that glass are mine, and I want you to use them now. It's time Camila, for you to see the earth the same way I have.

As Lauren spoke, her voice slowly made it's way out of my head and into the subspace, moving around and leading me away from my starting point. I began to walk, following the sound of her and trusting in my theory that this was just another dream. A lucid dream.

The only way for this to make sense is for me to start right at the beginning. She began. Think of this like a tower made of blocks, where each block is vital for the placement and stability of the next. If one isn't placed correctly, then the whole establishment will crumble to the ground.

"Like Jenga." I smiled to myself, happy with my juvenile metaphor.

Like who?

"Never mind. Just talk."

Here's the bottom line. Humans weren't designed to survive. Lauren continued with a soft laugh. "Science proves that evolution was nothing more than a lucky ape on the savannah who came down with a case of opposable thumbs and few floating chunks of brain in their heads. There's nothing in the history books that acts as definitive proof that we were ever meant to inhabit the earth.

There's a reason why people are so entranced with the sun and the moon. Everyone has their own theories, most of the ones I've heard go tend to travel along the same line. The earth is finite, and in the end, there won't be anything here for us. We look for beauty, and the best parts of it can be found in places that we aren't familiar with.

"Do you really think there are any places left that humans aren't familiar with?" I asked, looking around and trying to squint and better my field of vision. It was a lost cause.

Do you really think that people who seek out beautiful things are going to end up checking every item off their list? The sea caves in Portugal, cliffs over looking the water in Ireland, bamboo forests in Japan, the lavender fields in France. Lauren replied soundly. There are hundreds, if not thousands of places around the world that we seek out because of their beauty. But in the end, we all know that these things won't last.

I watched the images flash around me of each place as she stated them. Each was breathtaking in its own way, making me more and more jealous of those who got the chance to travel.

The sun and the moon. Even children who can't yet speak know that they're vital to our survival, just as they are vital to our destruction. But they're also vital to each other. One can't exist without the other, they're linked together with a force much greater than anything you or I could comprehend.

"Okay, I guess that makes sense." I looked around, hoping to see something but coming up empty. "But what does that have to do with people being enamoured by them?"

As humans, we are drawn to things we can't understand. We are pushed by those around us to explore, because there comes a point when the things familiar to us are not just normal, but tired. We get bored. We seek out excitement, and sometimes, even a little bit of danger. Scientists think they have the universe all figured out, but the harsh reality of it all is that just like the two of us, they know nothing.

We look to the sun, the moon, and even the stars for ways to get away from the normal. Science can tell us one thing, but the minds of millions can say another.