Eyes Wide Open

Prologue - Unseen

My father always told me that the whole world was better off blind. That being able to see wasn't really a privilege. According to our Governors, the world had nothing to show off anyways. Being able to see is a crime. Anyone with the ability to see that isn't a government official or a Cy (short for Cyborgs that help us keep the city running) is immediately arrested and executed. Anyone housing or hiding a person who can see is also given the same punishment.

We are all born blind now. Some assume it was a government-oriented gene experiment that spread across the globe, plaguing billions of inhabitants with blindness. In grade school, we were taught that the Gods took our sight away because we were causing trouble here on earth. I don't know what to believe, in all honesty.

Here in the city, there isn't much to do. The men work in factories to produce whatever it is the government gives them plans and special technologies for. Women sit around and listen to the radio most of the time. Cyborgs do the rest. I don't know what dirt looks like but the Cyborgs clean it up. They cook and shop for us too. They're a great asset to the city and they even talk, read, and sing to us.

A 19 year old boy like me has nothing much to do with his time except read. I'm not suited to work in factories because the Governors say I don't have the strength. Well, more reading time for me. It's only me and father anyways. In school, we are all taught Braille. Ever since I learned how to read, I never stopped. I can travel to different worlds and escape this bleak box I live in. Nothing goes unseen in the imagination.

I've always dreamed of being able to see. Had I told someone of this desire, I would've been dead years ago. I want to explore the world and experience color, light, and the beauty of nature. I've heard about the sky and I long to see it; a vast expanse that covers the earth and changes color after so many hours of the day have passed. I can't fully comprehend how awesome the world looks with just my imagination. I want to see. I want to learn and live in a world beyond the odd arrays of spots and lines I see now. I never knew that my wish would actually come true.