Chasing the Cure and Other Stories

Pareidolia

Yan felt his arms pop to an uncomfortable angle as Lu stepped backward. He nudged her shoulder with the back of his thumb, hoping she would loosen her stance. When she made no movement, he glanced over in her direction and saw her eyes trained forward. He realized there wasn't much in her mind for much else; they were just a bunch of children trying to do the right thing.

The two friends were part of the 'Smarties' club. It wasn't the original name but some insults were catchier than others. Along with seven other kids, they read the tomes of the old world, trying to understand how people of such wisdom could lead the planet to ruin. Through their diligence, they found an uncomfortable truth: People of learning were ignored for they refused to say what the powerful wanted to hear. As they stood on the edge of the Darkened Forest, Yan began to understand a little better this harsh truth. 

"Move aside, kids!" The man at the head of the convoy bellowed. His girth was nearly as wide as his carriage, his horses huffing under their thick manes. 

"No!" cried Lu, defiantly. "We're not letting you die out there!"

Yan had watched this play out before. The big man was Shang, Lu's father. The last time they met was when he was over at her place for dinner, after a study session. That evening had started out cordial, up until the Face was brought up.

"The men are planning to ride down South in a week," Shang had told the family between mouthfuls of garlic mushrooms. "Elder Ren did his divinations today and had only good things to say."

He took out a piece of paper from his pocket and placed it on the table. It was set against a cosmic backdrop with specks of fuzzy yellow and sharp whites, the so-called 'galaxies'. Right in the center was what appeared to be a face, with two glowing eyes and a mouth of milky mirth. 

"Is this from the Hubbub?" asked Lin, Lu's mother.

"It is," replied Shang. "This is the sign we've been waiting for! A clear acknowledgment from the Heavens that our path is open! The South is open! We'll find farmland, water. There'll be enough to feed all the mouths in this village!" 

Shang and Lin both cheered, but Lu was quick to dampen the mood.

"Pareidolia," she said, her eyes fixed on the image.

"Excuse me?" Shang asked, confused.

"I've read about this. Just today, actually. It's a psychological effect, where we see patterns in things that don't have patterns. It's like that time Mama saw Guanyin Bodhisattva on a bun."

They all turned to face the makeshift altar, then back towards Lu.

"You kids and your old-world ideas. Yesterday you told us about fizzies and now you tell us this... what... para... noia? Do you not see how looney this all sounds?" laughed Shang.

"But Papa! We need to listen to reason and not random stars in the sky!" protested Lu. "The South is still filled with toxic radiation and airborne diseases that won't go away for at least another thousand years!"

"Well, the Hubbub... "

"I don't think it was meant as a tool of divination!"

Lu turned to Yan, hoping for him to jump in and talk some sense into her parents. Yan, however, was not a confrontational child. He remained silent and grabbed more vegetables.

"It's a smiling face in the sky, Lu, " said Lin. "The eyes and the nose, sure, I can see that could be an accident. But the smile? And the edges as well?"

Lu, however, was not giving up. She continued to throw all that she had learned at her parents, but it was to no avail. Shang lost his temper.

"Enough! You will speak no more of this! And no more of your little club meetings! Yan, we will tell your parents in the morning."    

Yan could only nod his head, holding back his tears like he was taught a man should. They were supposed to read about a person called Einstein the next day. He had been looking forward.

The standoff between the human wall and the village convoy continued under the blazing heat, with neither side backing down. Sweat had accumulated on their backs, and the children were beginning to feel giddy. The villagers had also begun to complain, their chorus of woes directed towards Shang for raising a brat. Relenting to the barrage of words, he got off his carriage and walked towards the children, his shadow a somewhat welcome relief.

"Lu," he said, kneeling down to look his daughter in the eye. "Our village is in trouble. We only have enough food for another three months at best. And our water is... putrid! Look, I know you're doing this because you care about us, but we care about you and your friends as well! We're just going on a quick expedition to find arable land and if things go well, we won't have to do this sort of thing anymore."

With tears in her eyes, Lu looked at her father. 

"Papa, you're not going to make it back!" she cried.

Without breaking a sweat, Shang reached for the two arms around Lu's shoulders and pried them apart. Yan let out a yelp and fell to the ground, along with the rest of the tiny wall. He watched as Shang carried a wailing Lu back to her anxious mother, completely overwhelmed.

The convoy rolled into the Darkened Forest, singing 'Praise Hubbub' and 'Guanyin have mercy' as the horses trotted towards the foul overgrowth. Yan looked on in wonder and terror. He could swear there were angry faces in the trees glowering at the doomed. He wondered why nobody else saw them.