My Humanities Work

A Man Who Had No Eyes Rewrite :)

I sat on the corner of main street, the street lamps shining through the darkness of a crisp winter night. I heard footsteps approaching me, so I felt around for the telephone pole I was leaning against and pushed my crippled body up. As the footsteps grew closer, I pulled the old newspaper out of my jacket. I tapped my battered cane on the ground and said, "Good evening guv'nor. May you please spare a moment of your time?" The footsteps stopped and I assumed that the person had turned to look at me.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I have a dinner that I need to get to. Can we make this quick?" a deep voice said.

"Oh, sir, I don't need something from you with no return. You hear, I have this old newspaper that I need to sell. One dollar. Makes a great fire starter." I searched for the man's hand and pressed the paper into it.

The man was silent. I supposed he was thinking whether or not he wanted to buy my make shift fire starter. "Well, you see, I have an electric stove, so I don't have a need for an old newspaper." This surprised me, for normally, people, even if they did not need such an item, would still spare a small amount of change to help a blind man.

"Please, sir, help a poor man out," I responded, holding on the man's thick coat sleeve. The man shook me off of his arm, sighing. I could tell he was slightly annoyed, but soon he would never have to interact with me again. He placed a dollar bill in my hand.

"Oh course," the man responded. I shoved it in my pocket, feeling the other dollar bills other passerby's had given me.

"Are you completely blind, sir?" he asked bluntly. I moved my head to face the man, revealing my skin to the ice cold wind once again.

"Ten years, guv'nor," I said, and then, solemnly, added, "Northsound. I was injured."

"Ah, yes. The chemical explosion. I haven't heard about that in years. I read about it in the papers all— "

"No one remembers it. No one remembers how so many people died or lost their eyes, and how others are still in horrible condition. Though, if you experience such a disaster first hand, you never forget. Especially if it has rendered you blind. If it weren't for that day at the C shop, I would still be living a good life in a good apartment downtown, but the chemical explosion left me for dead," I said, twirling the top of my cane with my right hand, remembering all the details of that day.

I heard the man shuffle, and I expected that he was either looking to see if he had any more change, or was just itching to leave such an insane blind man.

"But think about it. 108 people killed, 200 injured, and more than 50 lost their eyes." I moved my hand up to my face, lightly touching where my eyes used to be. "I only wish I had lost my eyes back in the war. That way I wouldn't be left out for dirt. But I was just working. Working to make a living and my life came crashing down that day."

"Insurance could help. That's what I— "

"You want to know how I lost my eyes?" I asked, more intensely, anger traveling from inside me like fire on a windless night. "I was in the shop, a little while before closing, most of the folks were already gone. Everyone else was rushing out. There was a chance for them outside, even though there were buildings going up in flames all around. I was just about out to safety when a man grabs my leg. He asked me to help him, to let him pass. I tried to help him up, but he pulled me down. You see, he was bigger than me. He climbed right over me, leaving me behind. The poisonous gas fell down on my face and all around me, setting on fire." I swallowed, trying to keep in a sob. "So that's my story. That's how I wound up here. That's how I lost my eyes."

A cold wind passed over me, sending a chill up my spine. I gripped my cane tighter to keep from shivering and shaking too much.

"That's not completely true, sir," he said, a hint of confusion in his voice. I was much more confused than he seemed to be, though.

"Not completely true? What's that supposed to mean."

"Your story is true, but slightly wrong, and its missing a few details. You see sir, I was in the C shop that day. You were the one that asked for help. And I tried, but we both ended up on the ground, surrounded by flames."

I stood there for a second, completely shocked. How could I have forgotten this much. But then my blood began to boil, and my free hand flew up in the air as I shouted, "THAT MAY BE SO, SIR, BUT I AM BLIND. AND YOU ARE A SUCCESSFUL MAN. YOU HAVE AN INSURANCE COMPANY AND A SWEET WARM HOME, I BET! AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN HERE LISTENING TO ME AND LAUGHING!!"

By this point, there were most likely people staring at me all around the block, but thankfully, I didn't have to see their judgmental eyes.

"YOU WOUND UP FINE! BUT I'M BLIND AND HOMELESS!"

"Sir, calm down. You see, do you remember anything that happened after the explosions?"

"I remember waking up alone on the street!" I snapped back, annoyed at how collected he was about the whole situation.

"Well, we both were in the hospital, in critical condition, eyes gone." He paused for a moment. "Sir, 110 people died on that day. And one of them was you."

I took a step back. I couldn't believe what I had just heard, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to.

I am dead.

I have been dead.

I will always be dead.

Yet, I still am a man with no eyes.

I hope you liked that! I worked pretty hard on it, but it's still a first draft, so I'll let you know when/if I ever make changes. This book won't be like 2 comments to continue or anything, I'm just gonna update whenever I write something new that I want to share. Have a nice day. Love you!!!! <3<3<3<3<3

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~Crystal