The Hills are Alive

Sara strode up the hill. Malik struggled to keep up with her. She reached the crest of the hill, slightly out of breath, perspiration beading on her brow. She lifted one hand to shield her eyes from the sun. On the other side of the hill, Sara saw the source of the strange noise.

The hill itself seemed to shudder and convulse. Malik clambered up behind Sara, wheezing. “Mother of pearl,” said Malik. The hillside shed its blanket of grass and trees, and stood up. Sara felt her blood run cold. The elders were right after all.

Malik and Sara looked up at the towering figure made of earth and plant, not believing their eyes. “What is it you want?” the deity asked through its craggly lips. “Why did you disturb me?”

Malik thought hard to remember the words he had practiced for so long. “When the moon is long, and sun is brief. Why, oh deity, does the caterpillar lose its footing?” Sarah put her hand in his, and they looked to the deity with hope in their eyes.

The expected response came, slow and measured, "Because I willed it so. For a caterpillar only loses its footing when you shake the branch like *super* hard." Looking back at them, the deity winked and then, forgetting all about them, wandered off without a backwards glance.

They watched him go with their mouths agape. What was THAT supposed to mean? Caterpillars? Branches shaking? How did that help them now? They looked at one another. “All we can do is ... move forward,” she said finally. “We have to do the best we can with what we know now.” “But

how do we know that that guy isn't crazy? We can't spend the rest of our lives chasing an ambiguous sign, looking at every single caterpillar we see! I'm going back, I've had enough." He started heading down the trail again but all he could hear was her footsteps heading away.