Blindsided

Chapter 1: Hope

                "Yes, I do." I'll be home before dinner." I call over my shoulder while walking down the stairs leading up to our front porch.

                My steps are slow and consistent while I make my way to the library. I count each step in my head and swing my cane in front of me. Thirty-four ...Thirty-five ...Thirty-six. I walk and count in my head to the beat. Last time I counted my way to the library it was two hundred fifty-six. I need to be alert of my surroundings. Seeing may not be my best quality, but hearing has become my strongest sense. I can hear things more clearly than someone who isn't blind, or at least that's what my doctor said.

                Footsteps cross my path while I reach the number on hundred. It's funny how at one point in time I would envision every stranger who crossed my path as a monster. I would allow my imagination to take over and morph the stranger into a creature I would at one point fear, but now find embarrassing. I now know that all of these people are not what my imagination believes them to appear. We are all equal.

                I get to two hundred and feel something close to me. Sometimes I don't need a cane to tell me that something is right beside me. Sometimes it is just a natural sense. I turn my head to face the object even though it is pointless. I swing the cane hesitantly to the left and it hits something.

                A barking noise causes me to match the object to a dog, but no voice clarifies it to the owner. I can hear it's panting and clicking tongue. I debate whether or not to reach for it. What if it belongs to someone? What if it is a stray?

                I finally decide to push aside the thought and reach down to pet the creature. My hand brushes something soft and the animal pants heavily while I stroke its coat, but suddenly its body becomes stiff and I can hear yelling coming from nearby. The dog leaps up and runs away.

                I stand up slowly and grip the cane. A voice meets my ears and I quickly perk my ears to make out the words. The voice sounds young and the footsteps sound small and light. I make the assumption that the voice belongs to a young girl.

                "You found my puppy." She says, closer now.

                "Um, yes, I guess I did."

                "Thank you so much!" She says happily. "He ran away from home and I was worried about him."

                "Well, I'm glad you are together again." I say awkwardly.

                "Why do you have that stick thingy?" She asks. "Do you have problems walking?"

                "Uh... no, I..." I rub the back of my neck. My neck is sweating and I can feel awkward standing here in front of a young girl.

                "If you don't want to tell me, I understand." She says her voice high. "My mother told me that I shouldn't ask strangers questions."

                "Uh, yeah..." I rub my neck harder, more sweat.

                "Well, thanks for finding Nickey."

                "Don't mention it." I say.

                She says goodbye and I make the assumption she is waving to me, so I wave back and look down. I feel strange inside and I can't explain the feeling. Young kids never understand the blind, and they shouldn't. They see everyone as the same. She probably looked at me and just thought I was exactly like her because we are both human, and maybe we are alike because of that factor. Then again, I think we are not all the same. I think I was born with a flaw in my genetic code for a reason. I still have yet to figure out what that reason is though, and maybe I will never learn, but maybe one day I will learn. Only time will tell.