Infinium

Impaired

My name is Matthew Meir. I would suppose this is where I should describe myself, but that would've been impossible then. I'd suffered from total blindness since birth and had always wondered what it was like to 'see'. When I awoke in the mornings to the smell of foods I longed to appraise, both with my taste and my eyes, what I was consuming. Eggs for instance always tasted the same. A tad bit salty with the cheese adding another level of flavor; the faint spice from the pepper, mixed with the grease, and fat from the bacon ensured it tasted good... but I still wanted to see it. I was very good at identifying things, but that wasn't enough for me. I tried to imagine the world, but couldn't as I had no reference point for imagining. I was however, smart with comprehension skills that registered off the charts. My mom said it's because she'd play tapes while I was still in the womb. I lived on the outskirts of a fairly sized city; down a long dirt road. Jonesboro was the type of place you go to raise a family and get away from the city life, but still wanted to be near something; my parent's thoughts when they moved from the hustle bustle of Chicago. My mother one Laura Meir was a successful self-help book writer and my father Reed Meir was a truck driver who also owned a repair shop, Neo-Contrivances. When my mom announced that she'd gotten pregnant; my dad wasted no time making arrangements; managing to find a cheap house on the outskirts of the city. They had me 5 months after settling in: the doctors informing them of my affliction shortly after. Neither could fathom how or why and the doctors were just as baffled, but they took it in stride silently promising themselves they wouldn't allow my ailment to overly affect my childhood. They read me stories every night and taught me braille as soon as I was ready to learn. They homeschooled me and I learned everything from Trigonometry to Spanish. I ended up taking the GED test early at the age of 13 and passed it with flying colors. My parents' ecstatic about the success took me to my favorite restaurant, Mama Tsangs, to celebrate. That is where my real story began.

"We're so proud of you sweetie" Mom said the emotion apparent in her voice coming from the right of me.

"You did really good today" Reed added his voice deep and booming reverberating from the left.

I sat in the middle of the back seat of our assumedly large vehicle. I assume the stature from the climb it takes to get inside of it. That and it sounded really mean when you cranked it. 101.7 played quietly on the radio snippets of whatever song was playing cutting in through their words. The test was delivered via a computer and microphone. The Consultant sounded like some sort of Asian but it was hard to place the accent, and at the time I didn't really care; I just wanted of that terrible chair and cold air. After 2 hours the lady from the entrance brought in my parents and, after hearing my scores, my dad yelled and whooped louder than I'd ever heard before while my mother hugged and kissed me for what felt like forever. I was given the choice to go wherever I wanted for dinner so Mama Tsangs it was. While I should've felt accomplished for something of that nature, my pops made sure to drill in how important this was, I didn't; only like I usually did when it came to academics. At least I did something to make them happy. I often wonder what it's like for them to have to deal with a blind child and all the extra it entails. They told me they'd love me just as much sight or no sight. I found comfort in that then, but doubt was something I dealt with often. Regardless, I refused to allow my thoughts to bind me so I smiled bright to their praise; masking my own internal conflict behind it.

"It was actually kind of a fun challenge" I lied knowing the entire experience was one of the most daunting and intimidating experiences of my young life. "I'm ready to see what's thrown at me next." I didn't realize then what that would mean for me, but it sounded good at the time. I suddenly lurched forward in my seat hearing a click that signified we were now in park. I listened as they unfastened their seatbelts while doing the same.

"We're hereeee!" my mother said opening her door my father following suit. I shimmied over to the right holding my white cane in my left hand. I opened the door letting the cane out before I stepped down feeling the solidness of the earth beneath me. As soon as I stepped out of the vehicle my senses were flooded. The smell of several different foods set my mouth watering while the rush of cars around me caused my palms to sweat a tad. A strong breeze ripped through my coat setting a chill over me and rifling my hair.

"It's supposed to storm," Reed said grimly his voice behind me.

"Then let's get inside I don't want to be rained on," Mom said her voice off to my left a tad.

We began the walk toward the building with me tapping my cane to the left middle and right of me before bringing it back. It wasn't a long walk to the door, and with its opening came the smell of fine Japanese and soy sauce. I collapsed my cane wrapping my arm around my mothers the smell of her light perfume mingling nicely with the aroma of the restaurant.

"Reed, Laura, Cole how are you all today!" The voice of the familiar hostess called from in front of us.

"Just fine missus Tsang and yourself?" My father responded throwing on his drawl as he does whenever we encounter... well anyone really. I think he just liked messing with people as he spoke normally when it was just us, but I never asked him about it.

We frequented the restaurant often so I had nearly everyone's voices memorized and everyone knew us as well. We were quickly escorted to our seats; myself not releasing my mother till we arrived at the back booth. I slid in to the wall; my parents sitting across from me. They were given menus, signaled by the sounds of laminated paper sliding across the table, and after ordering our drinks the hostess left us to our small talk. The restaurant was abuzz as usual; it was Friday after all. The smell of tantalizing food went nicely with the sizzling of a frying pan, and I could start to feel my stomach growling. We'd just arrived and I already wondered where the food was. The workers all spoke in fluent Japanese their heavily accented voices only barely heard over the sound of chatter that filled the packed restaurant. While I had only just started studying their language; I knew enough to know they were talking about a lady worker. The sound of chairs sliding out and back in notified me that the table adjacent to our booth was now occupied. It seemed like a typical evening at a typical restaurant, but the evening did not end in a typical way.