Forever Blind

Chapter 1 - A memory to remember

Behind a screen of black, she heard the sound of rain tapping against what she believed to be a window. Sometimes, she would spend hours thinking about how it would look like but soon dismissed that thought as she knew she would never be able to create that image. For the eight years of life she had, all she could remember seeing dark and light shades of colours that seemed to resemble either black or white. "Amelia, time for dinner”, a friendly voice from the doorway told her. Amelia turned her head slightly, facing the direction of the voice, “Yes, mother”.

The young girl uncrossed her legs and lifted herself off the floor. Moving towards the doorway, she offered her hand to the neatly dressed woman who gladly took hold of the tiny wrist. Walking out of the small room, the woman led the young girl down a long hall. After a while, the two made their way out of the never ending hall way and into the large dining area.

“Mother, where is father?”, little Amelia asked, looking at hand still holding her wrist tightly. “Your father will be coming home shortly. Please sit, dinner will be ready any minute now”, her mother told her, leading her to a chair as she did. The young girl let go of her mother’s hand, climbing onto the chair and waiting patiently for the food to be served.

The food came out moments later and Amelia knew what she was getting already without even smelling it. Five star restaurant quality dishes were the only cuisine her family accepted. Being of noble statist, they could afford having their own group of professional chefs as well as a kitchen and dining room twice the size of an average restaurant.  

After her dinner, Amelia followed her daily schedule. She moved from one part of the house to the other, moving through the many tunnels of the palace sized maze, going from one teacher to the next with the help of her mother and many servants. From piano lessons to English, she was taught how live and work with her disability. She hated it though, it felt like her whole life was already planned out for her and she had no say in the matter. Due to her blindness, she was kept under a tight watch.

Moving through the hall way with all its twists and turns for the eighth time that day, Amelia heard the faintest cry. She turned her head towards the sound, “Did you hear that?”. All eyes went on the young girl. “What are you talking about dear?”, the mother asked her daughter, the two servants with her both looking just as confused as her. Amelia didn’t answer, listening intently for that one faint sound.

“Amelia, we should get moving. Your next class starts soon”, her mother tried to convince her but Amelia didn’t listen, her mind stuck on other things. She paid no attention to anything but that one noise. That's when she heard it, the faint cry of pain just louder than a whisper, and with that she was left the scene running.

She ran as fast as someone her age could, whacking into branches here and there as she made her way into the forest surrounding the big house. She had no idea of where she was going or where she was, all she knew was that something or someone was in trouble. Following the cries, she misplaced her footing and fell face first into the mud below. Lifting herself up in a push up style, she heard what she thought was a growl. Looking up, she heard the growl clearer than before. 

Though she could not see it, a few feet in front of her was what seemed like a small dog. The animal was quite young and had the purest white fur one would ever see even with the large amount of blood seeping out of the wound in its left hind leg. Amelia had slowly gotten into a sitting position, her legs underneath her with her knees in front and feet behind her, listening intently on which direction the voice came.

Once sure of where the voice came from, she crept forward all the while holding out her hand to the wounded creature. He snarled at her movement, growling even louder as a warning not to come any closer. The girl, however, ignored his warnings and continued in her actions, moving towards the angry animal with her hand leading the way. Then all too soon the pain took over, the small hand shot back and the girl fell backwards.

A high pitched scream escaped her eight year old lips as she hunched over holding her hand between her chest and her thighs, her legs arced and feet placed firmly on the ground. She sat there panting softly as she held her left hand tightly in her right, blood slipping out of the deep teeth mark and falling in droplets on her lap.

The animal smirked, that will teach her, he thought only to be interrupt in his by the pain from his own wound. Amelia loosened her hold, moving her head to the side to look past her legs at the animal that bit her only moments ago. The animal tightened its jaw, trying to muffle his cries and cover his pain but he knew too well that death was soon.

Amelia went back into her crawling position and started to make her way back over to the creature. With the dog lost in his own pain, the girl made her way over with to him without being noticed. Sitting right in front of him, Amelia put her hand on the right side of his face, lightly scratching him under the ear.  He look up at her with an expression of distaste at first, than with a look of delight only seconds later as his thoughts turned only to the small movement. Unconsciously, he made his way onto her lap and snuggled into her warm body, her hand never leaving the side of his face.

"There you are". The two lifted up their heads to look at the collected but annoyed mother that stood above them. The dog payed no attention to the woman, lowered his head and rubbed it against Amelia's leg. The small girl smiled at this, he was slowly warming up to her. She carefully patted his back, avoiding the side of the wound entirely. He huffed softly at this, loving the feel of the small hand on his back.

"Amelia, it's time to go back. A person with a disability like you shouldn't be out in a forest like this with a strange and wild animal", Amelia's mother stated matter of factly. The dog lift up his head and look at Amelia, looking for any problems the small girl may have. "I'm blind", Amelia whispered to him, her pale mixture of grey and blue eyes meeting his light blue and green blended ones. The dog looked away moments later and broke the one side eye contact, lying on her lap once again. Amelia rested her hand on his and turned to look at her mother, "I want to help him".