The Things We See

Chapter 3

     I sat up in my way too comfortable bed.  The morning screaming at me to wake up and begin another day of complete darkness. Another day void of color. Void of light.  The morning continued beckoning me to  stand up, then scramble out of my room into a day which was no doubt pre-planned by none other than my mother.  My brown haired, brown eyed, light skinned mother. The person who cares too much, who plans every second of every day and worries about pretty much everything. I obeyed the mornings call and brushed my tired body against the hallway wall. My head hung low as I made my way toward the kitchen.  The breeze coming from the window filled my nose with the smell of freshly cut grass and the sound of Missy's bark echoing through the small neighborhood we lived in. 

     "Good morning Timothy.  How are you feeling today?" The deep slurred voice attempted to create a conversation.  Her futile attempt couldn't penetrate the overwhelming amount of stubbornness forged deep in my inner-most being.  I wasn't going to accept the very unnecessary assistance which this nurse was there to provide.

     "Tim?" Her voice now confused by my unwillingness to acknowledge her. "How are you feeling?" she prodded.  I continued walking past her and sat down at the hard wooden table.  I heard her sigh and begin to walk away, her footsteps loud and fast. Her stomping abruptly halted and I waited for another pointless attempt of conversation.  But there wasn't any, she proceeded walking further away.  The front door opened and then slammed shut with a loud thud. 

     I sat at that table for at least an hour before I began to get bored. I started tapping my toes and listening to the lag of sound from my my feet clanking on the cold tile floor, to when it finally reached my ears.

     "Bum... bum bum bum... bum... bum bum bum". The beat went faster and faster. I smiled widely.

     "Woof! Woof!" My feet came to a stop as Missy requested to come inside.

     I quickly slid my chair back and walked over to the front door.  I twisted the metal door handle until the door unlatched. I pulled it open and the wind hit me, reminding me of the large bandage sprawled across my face. Missy brushed passed my legs, her soft hair and firm body almost knocking me down in the process.  I listened for Meagan. There were no birds singing, no cars speeding down my little gravel road, nothing except for my heavy breath. I lifted my arms and felt for the bandage covering my scarred face. I began peeling the bandage off of the healing cuts around my eyes, the adhesive fighting against me every inch of the way. When I had completely removed it, I dropped it by my side and tried to open my heavy eyelids. I wanted to see the grass, the road, the houses.  I wanted to see anything.  The weight on my eyelids felt more permanent than the ground beneath me. I struggled to open my eyes.  I saw flashes of light coming through slight gap between my top eyelid and the bottom one. My eyes stung and burned.  They began to water as I continued  to try and break away the surrounding darkness. Nothing.

     A car pulled into the driveway and I quickly knelt down, grabbed my bandage, and went back inside. I made my way down the narrow hallway and the door opened behind me, two sets of footsteps quickly rushed inside. I turned around to face Meagan and someone I assumed was my mother.

     "Mom, she just left me here all by myself for more than an hour! What if I had fallen, or gotten hurt..." The silence confused me. Why wasn't my mom defending me?

     "Tim." I heard Meagan say. "This isn't your mother." There was a long silence followed by an awkward laugh followed by soft whispers. That wasn't my mom. Who was it? It was a girls voice, but definitely not Meagan's voice or my mother's.  It was softer, younger, less confident. Whoever it was, seemed to be loudly whispering to Meagan.

     "This is Alexandria." Meagan paused and then I could here the girl's voice again. "But she wants to be called Dria." I began to walk towards my room. "Tim, why don't we go sit down and talk." Meagan insisted.

     "About what?" Meagan and her daughter walked toward the sitting are and ignored my question. I stood there, standing still, contemplating what I would do. "Dria?" I asked myself. "Why kind of nickname is that?" I slowly made my way toward where they both were sitting. Walking in, my shoulder grazed the corner of the wall.  The couch squeaked as Meagan and Dria quickly stood up.

     "I'm fine! I don't need help!" I stood up straight and walked confidently into the room.  Meagan and Dria slowly sat back down and the couch squeaked loudly.  I shuffled across the floor in anticipation of my favorite chair.  I put my hands down and felt the rayon fabric underneath my anticipating fingers.  This chair has always been my favorite. It was built for two people, but I have found many ways to take up the whole thing. It is my favorite color of blue and it conforms to your body when you sit on it. I plopped down, sprawled out, and waited for Meagan to begin talking.

     "Tim, this is my daughter. She is your age and is looking for something to do after school, I... " she continued blabbing about who knows what and I started moving my head as if I was looking around the room. I pretended I could see, and I tried to imagine what everything looked like. I looked towards the window and saw the bright green grass and the light blue sky, littered with white fluffy clouds, I saw the trees and their rough hard bark, with birds confiding in their branches. I saw the neighbors walking down the street with sweat dripping down their sun tanned faces. I saw the sun beaming it rays down to earth and shining its brilliant light into all of the darkness.  I continued turning my head and pictured the elegant china cabinet littered with an array of colorful dishes.  I continued looking around the room until i was focused on where Alexandria was sitting.  "What did she look like?" I thought to myself. "Brown hair? ...No...Blonde?..."

     "Tim, are you listening to me?" I turned  and faced where Meagan's voice was coming from. There must have been a look of confusion plastered on my face because I could hear here sigh and shift her place on the couch. I could hear Meagan's daughter laugh again and I turned directly toward her.