Moonbows

Section one: The Butterfly Effect

Luhan was barely listening when they told him the truth about what was going on, their words seemed to be coming from extremely far away. He was completely focused on the butterfly outside the window. It looked like it was stuck on the tree branch; it’s wings flapping but getting nowhere.

 

He watched as it struggled and wanted nothing more than to get up and open the window in order to help the poor thing. His heart sank the more he watched it struggle. How horrible was it to be rendered flightless when all you were capable of was flying?

 

“Luhan, sweetie, are you listening?” His mother asked in her gentle yet borderline panicked voice. “Are you listening to Dr. Shin and Dr. Lee?” He blinked and turned his attention away from the butterfly, moving to the doctors sitting on the other side of the desk.

 

“I’m sorry.” Luhan murmured.

 

“It’s alright. We understand that this is a lot of information to take in but please try, alright?”

 

“Alright.”

 

“What you have is a condition that affects your vision; it slowly decreases your ability to see. At first everything is normal within the eye but then colours appear to slowly fade.” Dr. Lee said in a voice that Luhan categorized as patronizing.

 

“Like vibrant pastels turning into watercolours.” Dr. Shin attempted to further explain.

 

“Exactly like that. But then those colours will fade further and you will be seeing dull colours that are barely there, then finally black and white. That it called monochromacy or total colour blindness.”

 

Luhan could tell that the doctors were waiting for him to gasp or collapse in shock but he wasn’t in the mood. He wasn’t really shocked at all- after weeks of doctors appointments and eye exams he wasn’t surprised at the diagnosis. But his mother was another case entirely. He could feel her going cold beside him.

 

“Monochromacy, in your case, is a symptom of a condition called optic nerve atrophy. This condition deteriorates your optic nerve and eats away at your vision. Over time the nerve becomes extremely damaged and can’t carry images to your brain. What we’re trying to say is..”

 

Their voices trailed off and he could no longer hear them. His eyes turned back to the butterfly and he noticed that it wasn’t struggling anymore. The butterfly had stopped moving and it seemed to be frozen. He bit his lip as he watched the wind move it’s wings.

 

Something as small as a butterfly’s wings hitting together had the ability to change things completely. What effect did the death of a butterfly have?

 

Luhan’s mother grabbed his hand and he refused to look away from the butterfly. Her grip tightened until he was sure that she had broken his hand. Dr. Shin was saying something but he couldn’t hear him anymore. It was better that way— if he didn’t hear the inevitable words, he didn’t have to face the problem. His father on the other side of him took a more solitude approach and patted Luhan’s back gently.