I was blind all along.

Charlie, o, Charlie.

                My name is Charlie. I live in a world of black and white. Every time I wake up its black and white, every time I go to bed it’s black and white. Each morning I wake up thinking, “Maybe someday, something is going to be colorful.” That never happens.

                My mother once said her world was black and white too, until she met my father. She always said it was beautiful to see all the colors. But one day, after work, my mother and father were in the car together. They weren’t really paying any attention to the road and ended up getting hit by another car. My mother said that father wouldn’t wake up and she called 911. The ambulance got to them as quick as possible. When they got to the hospital, they said she was alright, just a concussion; but poor father was severely damaged because he was the one driving the car. Mother sat by father on the hospital bed with tears in her eyes, holding tightly to his hand. He woke up to see her beautiful face one last time and to slip out the words, “I love you.” And slowly her vision became black and white again. She heard the beeping and couldn’t handle going to his funeral. She told me that she can never find the colors again. She cried every night for the colors to come back, for him to come back; but that never happened sadly.

                I walked into the kitchen and saw my mother cooking some eggs and bacon for me.

                “Good morning, Beautiful.” My mother said.

                “Good morning. Um, mom, you realize that it’s like 3 in the morning.” I replied with a sleepy smile.

                “Oh, dear. I guess I read it wrong, I thought it said 8. I’m just really tired, I guess.” I walked over to her and hugged her.

                “Here, I will finish these while you go back to bed and then when we wake up at the appropriate time, we can eat them.”

                “Alright, dear. Thank you.” She smiled and kissed my forehead.

                “I’m going to check on you when I’m done, and if you are not asleep, I’m not gonna let you have your breakfast.” I threatened her, and pointed at her with the spatula. I smiled.

                “Ha-ha, okay. I promise I will go to sleep.” She turned around and went upstairs. I heard a door shut. Good, now I get to make breakfast at 3 in the morning.

                She hasn’t had a lot of sleep lately the past few months. She is a 39 year old woman, working off of restless nights full of tears. Every night when I go to bed, I can hear her shed one more tear each night. She had me when she was 20, and from that day on she knew that something was eventually gonna happen like this. My father died when I was 4 and it was even hard for me. I didn’t really even see his face; other than photos that my mother keeps by her bed.

                I got finished with eggs and bacon and I set them in the fridge that is next to the counter by the stove.

                I ran upstairs to check on my mother. I opened the door quite slowly so it wouldn’t make so much noise. She was fast asleep with her lamp still on. She had her covers off but a robe on. I went over to her and kissed her forehead. I pulled up the blankets for her and I turned off the lamp. I got out of her room and shut the door slowly.

                I ran down the stairs to go to the living room. I through on some television and turned it down. I channel surfed for a while then I found my favorite television show was on. Oh, Supernatural, my escape from crap. I watched it for a while, and then I fell back asleep.

                I woke up around 7 to the sound of the ice maker whirring. I got up and turned off the television. I walked upstairs and peaked in mother’s room. She was still sleeping. Good, maybe she will sleep through breakfast. I stepped back and shut the door quietly. I went to my room and looked around. It was quite bright because my window wasn’t shut last night. I looked at my desk which had the basic stuff on it; notebooks, laptop, make-up, you name it! I plopped down on my bed.

                I looked out my window. I could hear the sound of a so-called “blue bird” but I don’t know if it’s a blue bird or not. I got bored and went back downstairs.

                I grabbed a sticky note and wrote down:

Hey mom, I’m going to go out for a walk to get some fresh air. I will be back soon.

                I grabbed my trench coat from the counter and headed out the door.