Collection of Stories

Blur

A micro-fiction about how Spiel lost her sight:

We knew it was going to get out of hand - it's been out of hand for almost a week now. But this was something we did together, my parents and I. We discussed politics because they affect us, we made signs, we went to rallies. We had plans. Numbers and names printed on bracelets. But there's nothing that can prep you for a bottle to the back of the head.

I was standing in the middle of a crowd, chanting. There was a group of men somewhere behind me, causing a fuss (someone was always there just to cause a scene). They were yelling, cussing, drinking. I guess one threw a bottle or something because one minute I'm chanting with the rest of them and the next I'm on the ground with a pain in the back of my skull. The rest was a blur - literally, I can't see a damn thing now.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"You're hand's right there," I pointed towards it, "that's about all I can tell you."

"Focus, Ms. Jeong."

Easy for him to say, he wasn't swimming in colors. I sighed and let my eyes jump around the room, the red pen on the desk, the whiteboard to the right of him, the black shoes he sported. It took a few minutes before I could look at his hand again. I still couldn't focus on it but it wasn't as blurred now. "Two? No, wait..." my eyes wandered again, against my will, and then refocused. "Three. You're trying to trick me with the thumb."

"What does that sign say?"

"Well, it's got glowing red letters so I'll guess it's an exit sign."

"What kind of vending machine is that?"

It's blue so it could be...what's the water brand? Dasani? Or it could be Pepsi I guess, that's probably more common. He waited for me to decide. There's too much blue, not enough white. "Pepsi."

Cortical blindness, that's what the doctor's called it. Well, "Cortical Visual Impairment" technically but that's just extra work to say blind. My field of vision is limited now and it isn't equal - my right eye sees more than my left so they're offering me glasses to ease the strain. Even then, the tunnel isn't clear.

But just then I thought I saw him smile.