Faceless

Prologue: Window Eyes

I guess being blind is difficult. But then again, I've never known anything else, so it's pretty hard to say. And just so we're clear, I'm not the blind you think I am. I wasn't ever a normal baby, with little gray eyes blinking up at the sky. I didn't start my life seeing the world the same way you do, and I didn't have some terrible disease that took away my sight. I didn't even know what eyes were until I was twelve.

On my twelfth birthday, my mother held me in her arms and whispered into my ear. I felt the rush of air flow through the side of my head and straight to my mind. I felt, not heard, her low voice echo through my skull. I felt, not saw, her watery smile, telling me I had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. I was confused. What are eyes? I thought. She must have read my mind somehow, for her answer was short and light.

"Eyes are the windows through which we see life," I felt the rustle of her skirt as she breathed these words into my head. Eyes are windows... We see life... Life is a window... Eyes see through life.... Eyes are windows. Her words chased themselves around in circles in my mind, growing and shrinking, bulging and sinking, around and around and around. Then it hit me. We see life. But what was life? I was sure I couldn't see it, even though my mother said I could. All I ever saw was black.

As if reading my thoughts again, my mother continued, "You have no eyes, my child, but the window through which you see life is much more beautiful than anyone else's. You are a Feeler, Mokaia, not a See-er. You may not be like those around you, but you do belong. As long as I live, you will be safe. You will belong." Even at my young age, I understood that my mother was not only trying to convince me of that, but herself as well. My whole life, she tried to convince herself I was worthy. I had always thought I was. But looking back, I am not so sure.

"Mokaia, listen to me." I sat up straight, unable to cuddle as I felt her hands touch my shoulders. "The world is a dangerous place, one with beautiful rainbows and treacherous deserts. But for one blind and lacking of... of what you lack, it is but a black void. Yet, sometimes living in the darkest of spaces is what makes us able to see the light. You may now think you are cursed, Mokaia, but you will learn that you are not cursed at all. In fact, you are more blessed than any other creature in this world."