Within [Rewriting. Please don't read.]

Chapter Five

Not seeing.

And then everything clicked into place.

Everyone was so bananas over Alice's musical talent, not just because she could play several instruments, but because she couldn't see them while doing so.

The reason why she kept on playing after I had come in, even though I was in her visual range, was because I didn't make any noise while entering, so there was no way Alice could have realized I was there.

The indentations that she was making on the paper on her lap were Braille since she wasn't able to read or write music any other way.

She asked me to help her up and bring her to her desk because she couldn't have gotten there herself, and Alice might have tripped on something because she couldn't see where she was going.

I couldn't believe how much of an idiot I was a second ago. It was so blatantly obvious now, Alice was blind.

"Do you have any questions?" She asked, her voice bringing me out of my daydream.

"Yeah, can you please repeat everything you just said?"

She sighed, but started from the beginning anyway.

"The first thing you'll have to help me with is calling on people after they raise their hands. Since I obviously don't know who has their hand raised, I need you to decide who can answer the question and tell me who's speaking. I have a seating chart that Adanna made for me for each class, but I'm sure you'll know everyone's names in a week or so.

The second thing you'll be doing is writing out notes on the blackboard for the kids to copy based on what I'm saying. Make sure you write large and legibly, so everyone will be able to read it.

I'm also going to need you to correct quizzes and tests. You'll read me the question and tell me what the person wrote. I'll tell you if their answer is right.

Finally, all I do with class one kids is sing songs, so I'm assuming you'll be able to sing a few as well?

And that's about it, are you okay with everything?"

"Yeah, seems pretty fair."

"Good. School starts in two minutes and we have Class One first. I'm sure all my students will be happy to meet you." She replied, a large smile appearing on her face.

"Let's hope." I said, with an equally wide grin.

"I'm curious. How do you play your instruments?" I questioned.

"Well, playing the guitar, the flute and the violin isn't too hard. They're relatively small and with enough practice, you could memorize where the various strings are, or in the case of the flute, keys.

Also, since I don't have any vision, my sense of touch and hearing is stronger.

Now, the piano is extremely hard to master. It's way too large to be able to feel around for the keys, and you need years of practice to get your bearings and be able to play."

"Wow! And I found learning the guitar and piano hard. It must have been a challenge."

"It was, but I like challenges, not when everything come easily, there's no fun in that."

"I agree."

I tried to think of something else to say, but was cut off from my thoughts (for what felt like the hundredth time today) by three young girls skipping into the classroom, notebooks and pencils in hand.

They stopped when they saw me, and looked confusedly at each other before shrugging in unison and walking to their seats.

A few minutes later, a couple more students filed in, with the same reaction to my presence in the room.