june 2000
"we're almost at the park aimee."
the six year old girl nods in the direction she thinks the boy is walking.
"can you hold my hand? i don't want to fall."
he nods, quickly taking her hand, for a moment he forgot that she couldn't see a thing.
she couldn't see the sun.
she couldn't see the sky.
she couldn't see the stars.
she couldn't look people in the eyes.
she couldn't see what her parents looked like.
she couldn't see what he looked like.
they slowly make their way to the park and he leads her to a place under a big old tree.
he picks his guitar out of the case, and helps her sit down.
she sits in between his legs and he sets the guitar on her lap.
"let's start with some chords."
she nods and turns around to face him, though she isn't able to see him.
"so let's start with the easiest one."
he puts his fingers on the strings and soon a peaceful sound fills their ears.
"try it."
she wanders around with her hands trying to find the right string.
"n-n-niall I can't see what i'm doing."
"i'm so sorry i forgot that you are-uhm.."
"blind. i know."
he gently places her small fingers of her left hand on the right strings and places her right hand above them.
she feels his warm hand on hers and smiles weakly.
the guitar makes the same sound as a few minutes ago.
"you are a fast student."
he grins at her, but then realizes she can't see him.
that evening, at dinner, aimee tries to find her fork while she enthusiastically tells her parents about her first ever guitar lesson.
thar evening at dinner, niall grabs his fork while telling his parents about teaching the blind girl how to play the guitar.
