Short Stories Volume 1

"Poor Vision"

It's hard to keep track how long it's been. But years ago, all of humanity lost their sight. At first it was barely noticeable. Then it began progressing to the point it was on the news that those with poor sight began being quarantine. With the amount of people going blind they thought it must've been some sort of virus.

No matter the test, experiments or trials nothing worked. People remained blind and continued to lose their vision. And no cause was ever found. Eventually so much time had passed that people were beginning to think of sight as some sort of fairytale. With extreme adjustment people began to go about their daily lives. That is until one morning you woke up and opened your eyes not really expecting to see anything but to get your mind working. Signalling it that it was indeed time to wake up.

Even without sight you always knew when it was morning and when it was night. So it being bright didn't click in your head until you heard a small purr and saw a beautiful cat at the window sill.

Wait was it a cat? Was that what it looked like? You were born blind like everyone else so actually seeing something was impossible. Right?

But no, your eyes remained opened. You saw the light coming in from the window where the cat was. You saw him or her jump down and run into the hallway. In a panic you ran after it, trying to convince yourself that you were indeed seeing. Once out into the hallway however you stopped.

You saw things on the wall. Looking closely at it they had bumps over the paint. Feeling over them you realized that they helped you read what was written. "Don't tell them you can see".

When I recoiled my hand and took a step back I noticed that it wasn't just that wall that it was written on. It was on the ceiling, the floors, practically every surface that could be written on. I could feel the slight bumps on my feet where the words are. No sight meant it was dangerous I walk barefoot. The only time I ever was barefoot was in my own room. But in my hysteria going after the cat I never put on my shoes. It made my chest tighten and want to panic.

Who wrote those things? Isn't gaining our sight back a good thing? Who aren't we supposed to tell? Why shouldn't we tell? No one was there to answer me even if I asked these questions out loud. Instead I focused on finding people. If these words were here the someone must've wrote them down therefore they must be around. I have to find them.

However that was much easier said than done. Everything was new to me. Many things I reached for I had grabbed and used a thousand times before, but it was the first time seeing and feeling it at the same time. It was a whole new experience. Does that make sense? Like I know exactly what a ball is. I used to play fetch with my dog so I know that it's round. But when I first saw it I didn't identify it as a ball. Not until I held it in my hands feeling my way around it.

So many things wanted to grab my attention. It was starting to get overwhelming. Not as much as the words written everywhere though. At first I thought it was just my house. Which scared me enough since it meant someone had broken in, most likely multiple times. But no. It was everywhere.

I couldn't take the time to admire so many things that I didn't know could be so beautiful. The birds singing and flying in the air. And the color! So much color everywhere. But there was only one that keep bringing me back to focus. It was whatever color the words were written in. If it wasn't for the first feel of the words, I wouldn't paid too much attention to them being scribbled since I didn't know how to read. Not without touch anyway.

Now I knew how to read six words. Six words that filled me with fear.