EPT“Untie the knot!” the tallest boy shouted over the roar of the river.
Kafei had warned them today that the river was much stronger than usual. Their plan had been to ride down the river in the raft they had built. When they made their way down to the riverside that afternoon, Kafei sensed the current was dangerous. Crests and whirlpools were forming where there should be none. Kafei tried to persuade them to abandon their ambition for the day, but his powers of argument were weak. He did manage to convince the more timid Temari to stay on land, but the rest of the group wanted their voyage. He would not join his friends in their risk.
“I’m giving you one last chance to think again!” Kafei responded, knowing that the chance of a change in decision was zero and his final warning was a mere formality. “Alan! Brian! Carl! Dan! Erica! You all ready?” Kafei called each of their names, receiving final consent everyone.
Temari followed Kafei as he walked to the tree to which the raft was tied. His fingers danced over the rope as the knot loosened. He gave one final yank and the knot broke open. The raft drifted slowly at first but accelerated quickly. Its passengers hollered in glee. Kafei and Temari jogged alongside to watch their friend’s voyage. Suddenly, the raft hit a large current at a bend and flipped over. The five children’s screams rang out to the shoreline, but were smothered by the continued roar of the river. Some splashing could be seen, but not for long. It took three days to recover the children’s bodies.
***
He hated dealing with the corpses. Kafei gingerly plucked up the dead mice with his forceps and deposited them into the black plastic bag. He couldn’t draw conclusive evidence from his experiment, but it was enough to support his hypothesis. He heard the door open and looked up to see his assistant walking in with a heavy paper bag. It looked liked his chemicals had arrived.
Fifteen years had passed since the boating accident. Time slowly eroded the memories of that fateful day, but Kafei had a hard time living down his guilt. He could sense the animosity of many of the adults towards him, knowing the dangers yet sending their children off onto their doom. He was able to accumulate a sizable wealth through an obscure inheritance. He was not generous with his money, and became a rather unpopular figure among the townsfolk. Kafei spent most of his time conducting experiments in the solitude of his laboratory.
Kafei had been monitoring the water supply in his village for some time. Recently he had been detecting abnormally high levels of bacteria. Upon further study, high volumes of ingestion of this bacteria caused serious medical problems, including fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and death. He also found that the bacteria count could be reduced or eliminated with a chlorine compound. It was previously established that this compound was also not perfectly safe for consumption – it also had its share of adverse effects, though not as severe as the bacteria.
Kafei knew he had to take immediate action to disinfect the water supply, or else the bacteria count would quickly reach dangerous levels and poison the entire village. He brought up this issue with the town council and tried to circulate his findings around town. His efforts were unable to attract much attention, however. The understanding of microbiology was still in its infancy, and the townsfolk were not particularly highly educated. Most were not even aware of the existence of microscopic life forms. This was compounded with the need to contaminate their water supply with a minor poison, and the villagers were quick to vote down his proposition.
Kafei was faced with two choices: abide by the wishes of the townsfolk and hope that the water could stay safe, or take matters into his own hands and introduce his disinfectant into the water source. He did not have the time for more exhaustive scientific research to confirm his observations, nor did he really want to go through with the hassle. Even though Kafei didn’t particularly like most of the townsfolk, he would not want to see everyone dead.
“You can’t go and dump this toxic compound into the water. People will get sick,” Temari had objected. “How can you be so sure you are right?”
“I’m not. I could very well be wrong. But I must operate under the presumption that I am right – to do anything else is a betrayal to my abilities.”
“Again with your elitist attitude. I’m sick and tired of your cockiness. Why can’t you ever admit that other people can sometimes be right and you’re wrong?”
“How is it even possible to sound modest when I am asserting my viewpoint as the only correct one? I can’t help it. Of course I can be wrong. However, think about this: someone with talents much above others in an area, yet too modest to challenge the status quo, will fail to rise through the ceiling and make a difference. The problem is, I happen to be in a position that enables my drawing conclusions that others are unable to make.
Remember that boating accident when they died? I was in a position that they did not have - I had the foresight to identify the dangers that were lurking. Yet I didn’t take action to prevent them from going. Suddenly, I was partially responsible for their deaths, purely by being more aware of the things happening. Their parents – I can tell some of them still haven’t forgiven me. My only fault was knowing too much. If I had been a silly carefree kid the rest of them, and stayed behind because I had hurt my foot or something, than I would have been innocent and blameless.
This time, again, I claim to know more than the average villager. Does it become my moral obligation to prevent their disaster, even if it goes against their wishes? Either I can ruin their fun and make them slightly sick, or watch them all die as they are infected by the bacteria. No matter what, they’ll hate me for it.”
Temari said, “And what if you are wrong then? You will have made them sick for nothing. No one is convinced the bacteria pose any harm. The effects of the chlorine compound aren’t very well known either. You could make the situation worse.”
“I could very well be wrong. I guess that’s what separates the heros from the villains in history, eh? Fate.”
That night Kafei went down to the well under the cover of darkness and dumped the contents of his paper bag into the water. He watched as the white powder swirled and dissolved into the watery abyss.
