Goldfinch are the first. We think it’s a fluke — an evolutionary leap to elude hawks. Yet raptors, too, become transparent, and we wonder what they are trying to evade.
We realize there’s more going on than we thought when every creature from buzz to trumpet transforms. Butterflies are as hard to discern from the air as transparent fish are from water. Squirrels scamper, with only their chittering giving them away. Deer forage boldly, sensing that hunters can barely see them. The fur of our pets becomes a lattice of reflected light.
It’s not only animals that transform. Trees turn ghostly; grass glistens silvery; and flowers flaunt their inner workings, petals transparent as dew.
Common tasks challenge us. At the market, we squint to distinguish apples from oranges. Preparing breakfast, we crack eggs and guess where shells end and yolks begin.
We tell ourselves we’re adapting, but unease clings.
Then, one night, moonlight wakes us. Our blinds are closed, but our roofs are gone. We wonder if we’ve slept through a storm. Looking closer, we notice a shimmer; the tops of our homes haven’t vanished — they’re clear.
The phenomenon washes over everything. On highways, cars become translucent, the pileups more audible than visible. People on trains white-knuckle their glass-like seats and fight nausea as they see the tracks whizz by beneath them. Buildings become giant prisms, casting spectrums of color instead of shadows. The loads we carry appear light as air, but weigh us down as much as ever. We struggle to do our jobs with transparent computers and machinery. We always claimed we had nothing to hide; when our clothes go see-through, we’re put to the test.
The clearer our world becomes, the more bewildered we are.
Eventually everything but us has changed. Even though we don’t like it, what can we do? We vow to keep on the same as always. But the world has other plans.
One morning, flowers shatter at our touch; the gentlest breeze snaps oak limbs; grass becomes glitter under our feet.
It’s the day we understand the fragility of it all. The day the finch return to gold.
