The Things We See

Chapter 2

     I looked over at my dad, the adrenaline rushed through my entire body.  My breath was heavy and I saw blood dripping from my dad's forehead.  My eyes had began to ache and everything went blurry. I screamed for help.  The car started levitating off of the ground, which was disturbed the by the wreck.  Then there was silence.  The birds had stopped singing their happy tunes, the wind had stopped breathing its breath on the world below, and the world had fallen  silent.  Help I had screamed, which broke the dead silence. The plea for help had seemed to vanish into the air which we had been floating in.
     "Come back to me!"  I hear my mother's frantic voice.  I can't see anything except the blurred shapes and muted colors that surrounded me in the silence. 
     "Mom?"  The pain worsened and my eyes throbbed as I had tried to keep them  open.  "Where are you? Help me! Please!" The car had begun to rise up further in the cool air like a tornado, swirling and twisting until the car split into two pieces, me in one half and my dad in the other.  My eyes opened, the world plain as day.  My dad continued to drip blood in the other half of the car. I couldn't get to him. I couldn't help him.  His side of the car suddenly dropped  into the the endless chasm below,  leaving me in tears.  With my mind in denial I tried to get out of the car, I try to end my pain by jumping after him, leaving the pain behind, but the spinning stoped, the world became blurry again, and my eyes shut.

     I sat up, sweat dripping down my face, the seemingly unending darkness surrounding me as I caught my breath.  It was a dream.  No. It was definitely a nightmare. This distorted version of the past seemed to be a part of me and I couldn't escape from it. It was something I wasn't planning on telling anyone either, especially not my mother. Her continuous paranoia about my well being would go through the roof. This dream had woken me up early in the morning, far before I needed to get out of my warm cocoon like bed. I could hear Missy breathing heavily laying by my feet. She must have been sprawled out because there wasn't room for me to straighten my legs. She had been just laying there and hadn't moved a wink for at least an hour. But I couldn't fall back asleep, especially not after that dream. Being tired was worth anything if I didn't have to dream that dream ever again.

"Tim, Come here! I have someone for you to meet." My mother's  voice echoed down the hall, through the door, and made its way loudly into my ears.

"I am special.  I am gifted.  I am loved.   I am smart.   I am strong.  I am perfect just the way I am."

The words were beginning to to be void of any meaning. The more I  said them, the more of just a habit they became. 

Slowly making my way toward the kitchen I heard a women's voice.  It was certainly not my mom's. It was a lot deeper and her words seemed to slur together, like she was trying to talk with her mouth closed. She had a very strong smell. It was like she was a walking perfume bottle.

"I've been helpin' kidss wiff disabilities fur a very long time. I want to let you know that I am very qualified to take car of your sson. This's my 21sst year working wiff the SCC."

"He just needs someone to help him learn how to maneuver now that he... you know." My mother was tripped by her own words as they left her mouth.

"It's okay.  I understand.  These accidents have major effects on both the children and the parents." I walk in the room and their conversation instantly dies.  I assume they were both staring at me and the giant bandage covering my eyes.

"Hello, you musst be Timothy? My name iss Meagan Haldow. I am going to be your nurse while your mother goes to work. She hass hired me to aids you in anyway zat I can."

I stood completely still and thought of something to say. I heard my mother playing with the edge of her rain coat. The crinkling noise had filled the silence. But the only thing I could think to say was how my new babysitter wore too much perfume.  I felt the breeze of Meagan lifting her arm and the screeching noise her fingernails made against the back of her neck while she scratched it while anticipating my response.

"Tim!"   I could feel the glare which my mom was giving me. "He's not normally like this."  My mother's embarrassment expressed in her voice.  She always  seems to tune out my opinions in this regard.  Her dire need for me to have 24/7 care apparently trumps all.

"It's okay. I understand what he's going through."

"He just needs time to recover." My mother had added.

Their conversation continued as though I wasn't standing in front of them.

"Well... I'm just going to go now." I turned around and walked toward the back door. "Ouch! If I could walk 10 feet without running into something!" I slid the dinning room chair out of my way and proceeded. Toward the fresh air of outside.

"Honey are you okay?"

"I'm fine mom!" I quickly walk farther away from my mother. I the grab cold metal handle of our back door and gently slide it until it thuds against the frame. "Missy. Come on girl." I hear Missy come running toward me, her claws clicking the floor and her heavy breathing in the excitement. "Oh to be a dog." Missy's soft hair brushes my leg as she gallops out the door. Her energy makes me smile. I walk out further and sit on the crisp grass. I lay back and feel the grass scratch my arms as I place my hands behind my head. The breeze rustles the leaves in the trees above and the birds sing their repetitive tunes. I wish I could just open my eyes. I wish I could see the green grass and the blue sky and the birds.

"Wait!" I said out loud "Robins? What do robins look like? What color are they?" The thoughts raced through my mind as I searched  for the image to match the word. I sit up, thinking as hard as I can. "It can't just vanish! I've seen them all my life!" An out line of the bird finally appears and I can see the bright orange stomach and yellow beak pictured in my head.  I breathe out in relief. Smiling gently I lay back down and and can smell the strong scent of the flowers behind me. My mother loves flowers. All the differ colors and smells. I began to remember the time when my mother was teaching me how to plant flowers. She showed me how to do one and then proceeded to help me plant another.  After we finished, I sat outside and smelled them for hours, admiring their vibrant colors, and watching the bright yellow bees gently land on them. My mother went inside and I quickly cut all of the flower heads clean off with a pair of gardening scissors. I stuffed the flowers  in my pockets and ran inside. I filled a cup with water and stuffed the flower heads down into the water until they were floating throughout the cup. I was so excited to give them to my mom. I wrote her a little letter with my favorite neon markers. When I finished,  I took the cup and the letter, I handed it to my mom, and she smiled widely. She began to laugh and then gave me a big hug. 

Missy began to bark, snapping me out of my daze.  I'm never going to see the flowers bright colors, or see the bees land on the flowers.  I'm never going to be able to color with my favorite markers and see the pictures I can create.  I will never be able to do anything like I used to.  It was all going to be different.  I walked back inside and the nurse began to talk to me.  I ignored her and walked straight down the hallway leading to my room.  I didn't bother to turn the light switch on, what was the point?  I just plopped down on my bed and waited for the day to be over.

Hey thanks so much for reading! Please leave comments and feedback.  If you have any questions please comment or PM me and I will try and answer promptly!  Also if you like this story maybe check out my other one... "The Drafted". Again, thanks for viewing! Second draft of this chapter on its way.