Lauren carried the painting downstairs and asked her mom where the wrapping paper was. She touched the paint with the tip of her fingers to see if the paint had already dried. It was recent and she was pretty sure that the paint had not dried. But when she touched the canvas, the paint had already dried. "Huh," she thought, "I'm guessing it's eager to arrive at its destination."
Her mom came in with a big roll of wrapping paper and asked her, "Is this fine sweetie?"
"Yes, mom. That is abolutely the right size." Lauren smiled at her mom.
"What's it for?"
"I'm going to wrap up a gift."
"A gift?" her mother looked at her with surprise.
"Yes, Mom. A gift."
"For who?"
"A friend. Someone I met the other day."
"Can I ask who it is?"
"It's our neighbor."
"Oh, okay. Have fun then."
Lauren laughed and said okay. "Okay," she thought, "let's find a way to wrap this up. I'm pretty sure that Landon will love it....or he'll just think it's creepy that I painted him specifically. Ugh don't think that, Lauren. You're going to make yourself more nervous than you already are." Then she realized what she had said. She had said the word nervous. What in God's name was going on? Why was she so nervous about giving Landon the gift that she had just painted? What was this reaction caused by? Lauren was feeling nervous and it was something that she couldn't quite understand. "You're overreacting, Lauren," she whispered to herself. "There's no way that this is nervousness. I barely know the guy."
She went to wrapping the canvas up with the wrapping paper that her mother had given her. It took her a while but she finally got the wrapping to look okay on the canvas. Sure it looked silly, because more than once she had to cut an extra piece of wrapping paper and just tape it on there, but other than that it was as perfect as it could be. After she was done wrapping it, she went over to the living room and set the canvas against the coffee table in the middle of the living room. She then sat down on the couch right across from the canvas. Lauren sat there and just stared at the wrapped canvas of Landon. She was debating on whether or not she should give it to Landon. On one side, she told herself that it was a bad idea. Landon would only think that Lauren was weird and that would make him not want to talk to her. On the other, she told herself that it was a nice gesture because people had isolated him for so long that this was probably the first gift he would receive from someone else other than his own family, and this would show him that Lauren was a real friend. He would probably also think that she was stalking him or something. But at the same time, Lauren couldn't stop thinking about his words and all the pain that not only Landon felt but also the rest of the family. She thought about Laura and how she was a single mother and how much she loved her children. That was evident in the way she treated Lance at the dinner and by the way she talked about Landon. She thought about Laura crying sometimes when her son came home all disappointed that he couldn't find any friends. Lauren's eyes began to tear up as well and that's when she decided to do what she had intended to do. She got up and took the canvas in her hand. She went to the door and opened it. Then she yelled, "Mom, I'll be right back. This won't take long!"
That way her mom knew that she was going to be back soon and she wouldn't freak out like Lauren knew she always did. She closed the door behind her and then walked slowly with the canvas over to Laura's house. She took a deep breath and she rung the doorbell. Laura opened the door and as soon as Laura recognized Lauren, Laura smiled and told her to go inside.
"Hello, Lauren. What's brought you here, dear?"
"Hello, Ms. Laura."
"Please, just call me Laura."
"Ummm...okay. Laura, I have come to give you this gift."
"A gift?"
"Yes. I mean, it's actually for Landon but, I'll just leave it here with you."
"No, no. If it's for Landon, go on up and give it to him. It's fine. I'm sure he won't mind. His room is the first door right at the end of the stairwell. Don't worry, you'll be fine. He doesn't bite."
"Okay." Lauren was a little hesitant at first but Laura encouraged her with a smile. She made her way to the stairs, with the canvas tucked under her arm, Lauren ascended the staircase. When she arrived at the end of the staircase, she saw a door and she knocked on it. A voice from inside the room said, "It's open. You can come in."
Lauren turned the doorknob and when she opened the door, she saw Landon sitting on the bed. He turned his head towards the door and smiled. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them back again. Lauren looked around Landon's room. His room was neat and simple. There weren't many decorations on the wall. There were, however, many pictures. There were about four. One of them showed a man, Laura, and two young boys. Another showed Lance and Landon together. The third showed Laura with both her children. And the last one showed Landon as a young boy with a man. Lauren assumed that the man in the picture had been Lance's and Landon's father. It was at that moment that she realized she hadn't seen him around. Lauren had not moved from where she stood and that's when Landon spoke.
"Hi, Lauren. What brings you here?" he asked with a warm smile on his face.
Lauren looked at him in surprise. He couldn't see, yet he knew who it was that was standing in the doorway of his room. "Ummmm..how did you know it was me?"
He laughed softly and he said, "You can come in, you know."
Lauren laughed nervously and went inside, closing the door behind her. She sat across from Landon, in a chair that was placed right across from the bed. Then she asked again, "How did you know it was me?"
"I smelled paint mixed with some beach scent." he stated simply.
"You smelled paint mixed with some beach scent? I don't understand."
"Everyone smells differently. You for example smell like paint mixed with the scent of the beach. That tells me that you're a painter and from near a beach somewhere. And that you paint a lot, because you have to paint a lot to smell like paint."
Lauren was so amazed that it took her a while to respond. "Wow. That really is amazing."
"Nah. It's just what I have to do. Nothing special."
"Trust me, it's special if probably no one else in the city can do what you can do."
"You're exaggerating. But anyway, what brings you here?"
Oh yeah, Lauren thought. I was here to give him the canvas. Lauren had been so focused on his ability that she had forgotten that she was there to give Landon a gift. "Oh, yeah," she looked at the canvas that was in her hands. "Ummm.. I came to give you a gift."
"A gift?" His head tilted to one side and his eyes closed a while and then opened back up as if trying to see if he had heard right. "Did you say gift? You're here to give me a gift?"
"Yes. I made it. Here." She got up and went over to Landon. Then she took Landon's hand by the wrist and placed it right on the edge of the canvas. He felt all around it but he had a confused gaze on his face. "What is it?" he asked.
"It's a canvas. I painted it for you."
"Huh. So I was right? Thank you."
"I know you can't see and I didn't know if I should give it to you. I debated on whether or not I should give it to you, but in the end the 'give it to him' side won."
Landon laughed a whole-hearted laugh and then looked in her direction. "It's fine. Thank you."
"Do you need help opening it?"
"No, it's fine. I got it." Landon began ripping the paper gently. When he had finished uncovering the canvas, he touched over the canvas. He could feel the difference of the paint on the canvas as opposed to the canvas that had no paint on it. "Thank you again, Lauren. I just wish I could see it."
The smile that was once on Lauren's face disappeared as soon as Landon said these words. Almost immediately, Lauren began to feel guilt and she had to apologize. "I'm sorry Landon. I should have thought it through. I shouldn't have come to give this to you. It was a stupid idea."
"No," he said gently. "You don't have to apologize. This is amazing. This is the only gift anyone has ever given me. I used to love art. I mean, I still do. When I was younger, I'd beg for my parents to take me to the art museum. They could have left me there all day, I wouldn't have complained. That's how much I loved it. And I still do. I can't see this but I know there's something there. I know that you made it with great delicacy. Don't be sorry for being an artist and wanting to give me a painting. I love it. I wouldn't change it for the world."
As Lauren heard these words, she couldn't control the tears that were filling up her eyes. Eventually those tears flooded her eyes, and they started flowing down her cheeks. All she could hear now were the words he was saying and the whimpers that came from her. He stopped and now that there was silence, the only thing that could be heard were the sniffles that came from Lauren.
She saw Landon, stop and come closer to her. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? It sounds like you're crying."
"I'm sure. I was listening to everything you were saying and it just made me feel very emotional. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened."
"It's fine," he said. Then Lauren saw that Landon approached her and felt his way around for her hands. Once he had found them, he took her over and sat her on his bed. "Stay here," he said. "I'll be right back. I'm going to get you some water."
With that Lauren saw Landon reach for a cane. When Lauren had gotten his cane, he moved it from side to side and she was impressed when she saw that he hadn't bumped into anything. Once he was gone, Lauren took the canvas and studied the wall. She stood up on the bed and found a nail that was sticking out of the wall. She hung the canvas there hoping that the nail would hold the canvas. Then when she was satisfied, she sat back down. A few minutes later, Landon returned with a glass full of water. Landon handed her the glass and she took it.
"Thank you," she said as she looked at his eyes.
"You're welcome, Lauren. I hope you're feeling better." he said with the most genuine tone Lauren had ever heard.
"I am. I'm sorry that you had to hear me cry."
"It's fine. It happens sometimes."
"Well. I guess I better get going. I hung the canvas on your wall. I hope you don't mind."
"No, I don't mind at all. Thank you, once again."
"You're welcome."
"Do you want me to accompany you?"
"No, I'm fine thanks. Maybe next time."
With that Lauren went downstairs with the glass in her hand. She dropped the glass in the sink and was about to leave but then she turned back around and said, "I'll wash it."
She took the sponge and washed the glass. After it was washed, Lauren left the glass to dry. Then she went out the door and back to her house. She opened the door and she went upstairs to her room. She stayed leaning against her door. After a while she let her head go back and rest on the door as well. "What the hell happened to me in there?" she thought. It was the strangest thing that's happened to her in a while. She left the door and went straight to the window. She pulled back the curtains and she looked across her window to see that Landon's window was closed, but the curtains were open. She saw Landon's side profile. He was reaching out to something. She guessed that it was the canvas she had given him. He reached out as if to touch the canvas and then he covered his face with his hands and sat down on his bed. It was the saddest thing she had ever seen; it also made her eyes fill up with tears again. This time she didn't cry though. But she wanted to do something to help him. It was the strangest feeling she had felt in a long, long time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Landon was seated on his bed wondering what he should do next. He had just been sitting there wondering if he would ever meet anyone else like Lauren. What were the chances that there were other people like her out there? People that wouldn't judge others by their looks or their disabilities. People who actually gave him a chance, not just roll their eyes and walk away like people he knew always had. There were so many things he didn't know and there were many questions that would remain unanswered.
Landon got up and walked over to the dresser. Right on top of the dresser was a small wooden box. He had had it ever since he could remember. His father had given it to him when he was younger. "It's a safe place to keep your secrets." Liam had said when he had given the box to his three year old son. The first memory that Liam had put in that box was a picture. There were actually two. One picture had Landon, Lance and Liam together, the other had just Liam and Landon. Landon and Liam had been very close. But they never had a chance to get closer because of the accident. Landon took the box and placed it on his bed. There weren't many things in there, only the two Polaroid photographs. There wasn't much he could put in there. He took the two pictures and he held them in his hands. He put one down carefully and kept the other in his hand. He was confident that the picture in his hand was the one with him and Liam in it. He stared down, in the direction of his hand and whispered, "I miss you, Dad. Maybe this would have been a lot easier if you had still been alive. You would have probably found a way to make it all better for me. Don't get me wrong. I love my mom. I couldn't live without her, but there are certain things I can't tell her because I'm too much of a coward to do so. It would be so much easier if you were here. I wish you were here, Dad. I miss you so much. Even Mom does."
At this moment, he heard the door open. He thought it was weird because they rarely had any visits. He heard his mother's voice faintly in the background and this is where he heard her giving the person that was there directions to his room. He took the wooden box and walked carefully over to the dresser and set it there. A few seconds later, he heard a knock on the door and he said the only words that could be said, "Come in."
The door opened and instantly he smelled the aroma of paint mixed with a beachy scent. He knew immediately who it was. It was Lauren, the same girl that he had met in the park the other day. There was silence. He could tell that she was looking around, because honestly, it was the same thing he would have done if he had been in Lauren's situation. He waited a few minutes and then he said, "Hi, Lauren what brings you here?"
Landon knew she had been shocked, so her next question wasn't a surprise to him. "How did you know it was me?"
Landon explained that she smelled like paint and like the beach. And that she painted a lot because the smell of paint was really strong, stronger than most smells anyway.
"Wow. That really is amazing." Lauren's voice said.
He explained to her that there was nothing really special about it and her response made him feel better than usual. He had never met anyone like Lauren and he wondered if there were other people like her. He finally asked her what she was there for. She answered that she had gone to give him a gift.
Landon couldn't believe his ears. This girl he knew almost nothing about, came to give him a gift. Him....a blind person. He couldn't hide his surprise as he asked her what it was. She answered that she had made it and then she handed it to him. Landon couldn't see where it was but he tried to pretend he did know where it was. A few seconds later, he felt a warm hand on his wrist. The warmth stayed on his wrist even after Lauren had let it go. His hands were on the gift now. He could tell that the gift was thin and most likely rectangular. He asked what it was and she answered that it was a canvas and that she had made it for him. He smiled a small smile, knowing that he had been right. He told her so and she answered with a hint of remorse in her voice, "I know you can't see and I didn't know if I should give it to you. I debated on whether or not to give it to you, but in the end the 'give it to him' side won."
Landon thought about her words. She was being genuine, and she didn't try to hide it. So he said the only thing that came to his mind. He told her it was fine. "God, how I wish I could see her," he thought.
"Do you need help opening it?" Landon heard Lauren's sweet voice ask him.
"No it's fine. I got it." When he did finally get the wrapping paper off, Landon felt around and he felt the smooth surface compared to the rough, cloth-like feeling of the canvas. "Thank you again, Lauren. I just wish that I could see it."
At these words he heard her shift. Then he heard her voice again, "I'm sorry Landon. I should have thought it through. I shouldn't have come to give it to you. It was a stupid idea."
"No," he said. "There's no need to apologize." He explained that he used to love art, he still did. Every few days, Landon's dad would take him and Lance to the art museum. It was one of the few places that Landon felt safe. Of course he didn't tell her that, but he told her that she shouldn't be sorry for being an artist.
A few seconds later, he heard barely audible cries from Lauren. He knew she was crying and his instinct was to help her immediately. He got up from his bed and started walking to her. He gently took a hold of her hands and walked until the edge of his bed hit his knee gently. He then helped her sit down and told her he would come back. He took his cane and waved it in front of him. When he went down the stairs, Landon went down slowly, for he did not want to fall. From the end of the staircase, he went five steps to the front then eight steps to his left. Here was the entrance to the kitchen. He walked another eight steps and he was in front of where they kept the dishes. He felt around carefully for a glass and once he had it, he walked to his right to get water. Then he walked back up, this time being even more careful.
He got to his room and gave Lauren the glass of water. She took it and sipped it. At the end of this, she got up and told him that she had to go home. "Do you want me to go with you?" he asked out of sincere concern.
"No," she answered. "I'm fine."
Landon stayed back and heard her go; he heard her close the door gently behind her and she was gone. It was crazy that he had received this gift. Lauren had told him she had hung the canvas on the wall. He waited for a few minutes, deciding whether he should try to look for it on his wall. Five minutes later, he did just that. He walked over to the place where he thought the canvas hung and he reached his hand out. He touched it, feeling the smoothness of the paint. He tried so hard not to get mad. He was tired of living in darkness. Sure, he had accepted it over the years but it didn't mean he liked it. He wanted to see what was painted on the canvas. He wanted to see the colors that had been used. He wanted to see every detail that was in the painting. He wanted to see his family, and just the whole world like he used to see it. But most of all, he wanted to see the only person who had been kind enough to give him a chance, the only person that had given him a gift. He wanted to see what Lauren looked like, wanted to see the painting, her skills shown in the picture. He was tired of all the darkness that surrounded him. A few tears ran down his face and he covered his face with his hands. Then he turned to sit on his bed, with his elbows resting right above his knees. "Why?" he asked angrily. "Why me?"