"Rose! Rose, are you up there! Rose, answer me!"
I sighed, took a deep breath and answered. "Yes, Mother!"
"Tansy and Violet want to go to the park!"
I shook my head. "So why don't you take them?"
"Someone has to watch Yuri!"
I sighed loudly and set my book down. I took off my reading glasses and placed them on my dresser before going downstairs.
Eight-year-old Tan and six-year-old Vi were waiting by the door while my mother was in the kitchen with one-year-old Yuri. "Where's Dad?" I asked.
"He went to work. It's the afternoon, you know." Rachel Olivia Ulaso scoffed.
"Well, sorry!" I grabbed my Batman jacket and turned to my sisters. "So we're going to the park, huh?"
Vi nodded. "Yeah, I wanna see my flowers."
"And I wanna see mine!" Tansy cried.
I chuckled. One time when they had gone to the park they had found a clump of violets and noticed another clump of tansy wildly growing near it. They had gotten so happy. The three of them had looked around the area and found some roses nearby so they had picked the spot in between as their base spot.
I opened the door and held it out for them. "Well then, by all means. Ladies first."
They giggled and skipped out the door to wait for me by the sidewalk. I caught up to them and grabbed their hands. They tried to keep skipping on the sidewalk but the rhythm got completely messed up and we just ended in a fit of laughter. By the time we stopped laughing, we had gotten to the park entrance.
Tan and Vi ran let go of my hands to run to the flower patch. I raced to catch up with them, following the sound of childish laughter. When I did caught up with them, they were checking the flower patch and smelling them with smiles across their faces. I smiled at this and went over to my usual tree for a nap.
Before my eyes had closed, they caught a glimpse of green. I reopened to see a girl next to the tree reading. Her fingers moved across the pages and a smile graced her facial features. She had brown hair that I instantly wanted to touch, it looked that soft, and the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen.
They were the green I had seen earlier. But they weren't a normal green, they were a sort of green-grey. Her eyes were clouded but they were still so beautiful. So, so beautiful, that I couldn't help but reach out and tap her shoulder.
She looked up and smiled. "Hello?"
"Um, hi. My name is Rose. I just... wanted to tell you... your eyes... they're super pretty." I blushed at my stuttering and then blushed again at my blushing.
Her smile widened a tad. "The advantage of blindness, fantastic eyes."
Her tone suggested joking but my eyes widened. "You're blind?"
She smiled softly. "I have been since I was 8. I got hit in the eyes accidentally by an acid. I'm told I should be glad they didn't injure the outside of my eyes."
I leaned in closer and stared into her eyes. "They're so pretty..." I breathed.
She chuckled. "You're staring, aren't you? Leaning in for a better view?"
I snapped from my trance and looked at her. "I thought you can't see me."
"I can't but I heard your body move and I could tell from your voice." She smirked playfully.
I shook my head as she continued. "I want to try something okay... Blind people see with their hands... I'm going to try to see you with my hands."
