Apollo & Luna

Visions

“Bobo, you’re not going to give up on me, right?”

A huge pair of doe eyes locked with another huge pair of eyes. “I’m not gonna hurt you, you know,” the fair haired, pale-skinned young woman whispered gently as she slowly placed the wooden bucket filled with water down on the dirty ground.  Wearing an equally dirty overall and worn out leather boots, she kneeled over to take a closer look at the fallen farm animal.

“Drink this,” she softly ordered as she used a chipped cup to get water from the bucket, and offered it to the ailing pig. “Come on, drink this you silly old girl. Come on,” she coaxed.

Her words were met with a whimper as the other pair of eyes became teary. “Shhhhhhh…it’s going to be okay,” the young woman whispered as she gently patted the soft surface of the animal as it drank.

The summer had been cruel in this part of the Cholla region. Most of the animals got sick and died from heat stroke. Aside from that, the crops suffered, and now the people were suffering as well. But not them…

The little farm in the outskirts where the young woman lived was somehow spared, in spite of having a sick animal or two from time to time like now. The small vegetable garden at the back of the house had struggled to survive as well, persevered, and had continued on supplying the two residents of the little farm their day to day food.

“Alice!”

The young woman looked up from the animal towards the far side of the barn where an elderly woman in an equally old, faded and worn clothing was walking towards her, her hands waving as she came. “Mom!” the young woman, Alicia or Alice, called as she waved back.

“Alice, it’s already time for lunch,” the elderly woman said as she reached her. “I was waiting for you to come to the house but you didn’t,” she added with an endearing pout, making her daughter smile.

Glancing at the old, battered wrist watch her deceased father used to own, it was indeed past lunch time, and she smiled apologetically at her sulking parent. In the years they’d been living here, even when her mother had been busy with farm work, the two of them had always dined together. “I’m sorry mom,” she said. “I was trying to make Bobo drink and forgot the time,” she added, indicating the ailing pig.

“Ah, this old coot’s still sick?” her mother asked as she kneeled down and rubbed the pig’s tummy. Bobo was a dear animal to both mother and child as the pig was the lady’s gift to her daughter when they first moved into this rural region almost two decades ago. Alicia loved this pig so much, and so, whatever happened, she made sure the pig was healthy.

“Yeah,” the daughter answered with a sigh. “I think she’s getting old. We might…we might have to say goodbye to her soon…”

The lone sentence indicating that their beloved pet would die soon saddened them, and an ample silence pressed on as Alicia watched her mother continue to pet the pig.

“Mom, maybe I could – ”

“No!” her mother interrupted her as she shook her head. “Bobo had lived a long and happy life. We should let her go when the time comes,” she continued, and Alicia bit her lip and nodded solemnly.

When Bobo seemed to fall asleep, the elderly lady stood up and brushed her hands on her skirt. “Let’s go and eat,” she told her daughter as she left the stall.

Alicia immediately put the cup and the bucket away. Giving her pet a last affectionate pat, she stood up and turned to join her mom, when her vision suddenly blacked out, and an image of a suit-clad man, bound and gagged being thrown inside the trunk of a car came to her.

Let me out! Let me out of here! Let me out…

Inhaling sharply, Alicia tried to get her senses back together, but the vision didn’t leave her immediately unlike her past episodes. It took her several seconds before her surroundings returned to normal, and the face of her worried mother greeted her.

“Alice, are you okay sweetheart?” she asked her worriedly as she came to her side. “Y-yeah…” she answered as she swallowed hard, her heart still racing from the vision she saw. Somewhere out there, someone’s in danger and she knew it. She knew it but…

“It must be the heat,” her mother stated as she assisted her on her feet. “You should have worn your hat. Your skin too would have been burnt. Let’s put oil on it when we get to the house,” she added and Alicia did nothing but nod as she let herself be pulled towards their small house.

She couldn’t tell her mother that she had a vision. It would scare her – and something bad would happen to them if she acted on what she saw. Years ago, when Alicia was still a small child, she and her mother had lived in the city with her father.

Alicia could still remember crying at night, telling her mother that a bad man came with a gun to kill a man and a woman near their house, and she even described how both the killer and the victims looked like. Her parents didn’t believe her of course, chalking her foresight as a nightmare.

After that night however, their neighborhood was shocked to wake up with a murder in one of the apartment complexes. What more? Alicia’s description of the event was right down to a T.

With Alicia’s father’s help as an anonymous caller, the killer was caught, and their family moved to a new place.

Growing up, Alicia discovered that she was special. Not only were her visions accurate, she could, likewise, hear thoughts and feel someone else’s feelings, if they were strong enough. Also, two years after the murder at the apartment complex, Alicia discovered her other special ability: She could heal with just a touch.

When Alicia was eight, her mother had sprained her ankle badly. Seeing her wince and hearing her mind crying in pain, she had unthinkingly touched her mother’s injury, and it instantly healed. Her family, who was surprised but wasn’t frightened by her abilities, was happy with this new discovery, but their happiness didn’t last long.

Alicia’s jaw clenched as she recalled that night almost two decades ago.

Because of her ability, her father was killed, and she and her mother were forced to flee the city and live in this rundown estate in order to hide. Starting a new life, Alicia’s mother made her daughter promise to ignore her visions and never use her power no matter what.

Because of her, Alicia had given her mother no choice but to return to this town where people treated them badly. They called her mother a two-bit w***e. As for her, because of her very fair coloring and icy blue eyes, people called her waegukin, which meant foreigner, but in a bad way, and they had lived as social pariahs, hated and taunted by everyone.