LJIdol Home Game Week 28 - Sawubona
“Sawubona, young one.”
“Sorry?”
“Just an old-fashioned greeting, saying hello. It translates to ‘We see you’ actually. Never mind, not important. Let me look again closer, here.”
Sarah struggles to keep her eyes open as the light from her ophthalmologist’s machine makes her tear ducts react. Eventually it is too much and she blinks rapidly, reaching for a tissue.
“Well, you have no lesions, no discoloration. Your eyes are completely normal, other than…”
“Other than there being four of them.”
“…your having four pupils, yes. Fascinating. ChongTong.”
“Excuse me?”
“You appear to have “pupula duplex” or polycoria, also sometimes known as the “Evil Eye”. Often considered a curse. But the Chinese call it ChongTong, and they revere the people who have it and consider them people who are likely to make significant impact. World changers. Their written language was purportedly created by someone with this condition. To them, it is considered quite a good omen.”
“An additional set of eyes appearing is a good thing?”
“Well... This is a new condition? You weren’t born this way?”
Sarah sighs and glances over to the array of children’s pictures on the wall as the remnants of the bright light fade from her vision. She is expecting this question, and she pulls out her phone in response. The lock screen shows a picture of her and her easily frightened, and now ex-, boyfriend. She had meant to change it this morning, but it is useful now. She hands it over without looking.
“Here. This was me a month ago, and what I looked like until last night.”
Two eyes. Two bright blue irises. And two perfectly round pupils, half of her current count.
“Nice pic. Tell me, are you still able to see clearly? Do you still have depth perception when you close one eye? Can you focus on more than one thing at a time?”
“Yes… No… And not that I can tell. I honestly don’t feel any different than I did yesterday. Is it dangerous? Am I going to lose my vision?”
“Well, usually it is a condition one has from birth. There isn’t much in the books about people for whom the condition occurs overnight. Did you suffer any sort of injury? Stare at a laser, or the Sun? Take a rapid one-two punch in the face? Anything that might have affected your eyes?”
Sarah sighs again, and turns back to look at her doctor. “Not that I can remember.” Seven shots of tequila afterwards might be the reason why her memory is fuzzy now, but she is pretty sure nothing like that took place.
“There are other stories besides the Chinese, less well known, that include spontaneous polycoria. But no one has ever been able to explain them scientifically. Some legends say it occurs when an ancestor returns to live through one still alive. Some say it is a sign of demonic possession. Still others claim it is a side effect of a split personality taking over.”
“None of those sound good, but none of those sound like anything that happened to me. I don’t feel possessed or crazy.”
“Perhaps…” The doctor tilts her head, looking at the captured retinal images on the screen in front of her, a faint smile of recognition crossing her lips. “Ah.”
“Something?”
“Yes. Actually, I think I can help you. I do have some limited experience in these matters. I should warn you though that the procedure can be a bit discomforting. But I promise that afterwards, you will be free of them. You just have to trust me.” She turns to look Sarah square in the eyes. “Can you do that?”
The question goes unanswered as Sarah goes rigid. She stares transfixed at the full set of ten black dots staring back at her. She is unable to look away, can’t even blink. And now, she feels a distinct pressure behind her eyes, which builds until it feels as if it should burst. And then, when it does, she feels nothing more.
The doctor blinks a couple times, shakes her head, stands up, and walks to the mirror. She pauses, taking it all in, then smiles. Six sets of pupils stare back, glinting.
“Yebo, sawubona, my child. Yes, we see you too. Welcome home.”