At the age of three my mother took me out on a walk to the park. I had my hand firmly grasped in hers so I couldn't wonder away and get lost. The blackness I usually saw kept coming in and out of focus, I kept seeing something else.
All I saw was the color black according to mama.
"It's the color of the night sky, only yours is starless," she had said. I didn't understand it, but I did know that stars were my favorite thing after that. "I want to see a star." I told her a few days later. She started to cry and hugged me, promising me that one day I will. After that, I stopped talking about the stars.
This day was different though. As we walked through the park I could see something other than the night sky. It scared my three year old self.
"Mommy what is that?" I asked after a while of seeing these different night skies. That was the only way I could describe it.
"What do you mean?" She had stopped walking now, coming around and kneeling in front of me.
"I'm seeing something other than the night sky."
I was taken to the doctors after that, my mother had called my father from work and told him to meet us right away. When he arrived I heard her start crying, "He might be able to see! He told me he saw something at the park!" She announced excitedly through her tears. My father joined in with her celebrating until the doctor interrupted them.
After that I was asked a lot of questions and a lot of test were done, after the results came back my parents were disappointed that no, I still couldn't see but I had developed a rare condition that allowed me to see colors. They said it was a miracle that my retina had started to work. But it was the only part of my eye that did.
After that they began to describe colors to me, it was hard because color was different to everybody.
My father took me into the backyard the next day and put dirt into my hand. "Brown feels like the earth, or the dead parts of things that grew out of the dirt from the earth." He had said. I didnt understand it then but I did know that brown was close to the color of the night sky.
The next day he took me outside again, this time he placed a brown leaf in one hand and a different leaf in my other. "The smoothness and suppleness of the leaves feels like green; green feels like life. But when the leaves are crispy like the other one, they have turned brown and aren't alive anymore."
Later that night in the bath he put my hands into the water and said, "How you feel when you're bathing in the water, the cool wetness that feels relaxing, is how blue feels."
The next color is my favorite , only because I can see it better than any of the other colors.
The next day in the kitchen, while my dad was cooking he invited me to stand next to him near the stove. "This might hurt." He had said before placing something that burned my hand. I cried as he explained the next color, "If you touch something hot, your skin turns a red color. When you feel embarrassed or sick, that heat on your cheeks looks red."
That made me stay away from anything red.
Those were some of the many descriptions I got of color, those were my favorite though. Only because-
"Mateo!"
I snapped out of the flashback I was having, looking to my mother. "Yes, mamá?" I answered sweetly, knowing how angry she got when I drifted off during a meal.
"This day dreaming has to stop, okay?" She answered sharply, allowing no room for argument. It wasn't a day dream but she didn't have to know that.
I sighed, reluctantly nodding. "Sí, I'll try mamá." But honestly, I don't think I could even if I wanted to. Being blind and all, I was basically forced have a wild imagination. Plus, I always wonder about what things looked like so I made up descriptions of everything in my head.
"I'm gonna go on a walk." I announced suddenly, standing up from the kitchen table and feeling along the walls to find the front door. Well I didn't need to find the front door, I knew the layout of my house like the back of my head. I just didn't know if I was going to run into anything or not.
"You didn't even finish breakfast!" My mother chased after me.
"I'm not hungry, ma." I snapped, I didn't mean to really, I just felt suffocated in the house and I just wanted out.
"Wait for papa to come home so he can walk with you."
"I'll be fine by myself." If she stopped me one more time, I know I would explode and that was the last thing I wanted to do. I know she's only worried about me, but I'm seventeen and I would like to leave the house without my parents following me.
I didn't really give her the opportunity to answer because as soon as I got my walking stick and felt the door handle I yanked it open and was out the door.
I closed the door behind me, going down the front steps as quickly as I could without falling.
"It's not going to be a long walk" I said out loud, as if my mother could still hear me . I mean my day was filled with exciting stuff, I had comics to read and games to play. Why would I, of all people, pass that opportunity up?
Before I knew it I was lost in my own thoughts again, questioning the life of flowers this time.
I've always wondered what happens to flower when they die. I mean of course they're dead, but why do they always grow back in the same spot each year? Do they feel like we do? They are living things just like us so I've always wondered. It's a silly thing to wonder about, but these are the kind of questions that tend to pop into my mind when I'm out and about on my daily strolls.
Today was different from other days. For one, I didn't have my annoying parents riding up my ass and asking if I was alright with every step I took. I also did not have my trustworthy seeing eye dog, instead I had to use my untrustworthy seeing eye stick.
It didn't sit if there was a car coming, it didn't bark when something I could hurt myself on was in front of me. No, instead it only touched things a few inches in front of me. It was bothersome.
I sighed and lifted my face up towards the sun, letting the heat wash over down on my face.
I've always enjoyed the sun, it was the strongest color I could see.
I walked slowly down the sidewalk, my walking stick extended out in front of me. When I felt it tap against the fire hydrant I always pass on my walks, I stopped before taking five careful steps forward until I felt the sidewalk dip down slightly. Ah, the dreaded crosswalk we meet again. I hated crossing streets, mainly because I'm slow and people always honk at me and two because cars are very dangerous. They can be silent killers, striking when you least except it.
I listen for signs of cars and after not hearing any for a few minutes I assumed that it was safe to start walking.
I loved days like these—my parents weren't with me, the sun was shining brightly, and so far I haven't tripped over anything. Yes, today was a fantastic day in my eye–
I lost my train of thought when a rough hand wrapped around my upper arm and yanked me back hard enough that I fell onto the concrete I had previously been walking on.
I gasped from the sudden fall, my elbows had taken most of the hit and I could feel them starting to sting.
"Are you bloody crazy?! You were almost hit by a car you idiot! If it wasn't for me you would have been pulverized by that truck!" A thick but warm throaty voice yelled above me.
The voice was so beautiful it had sent chills down my spine. "Hey! You! Are you listening to me? Are you deaf? I just said you were almost hit by a car!" Annoyance seeped through his velvet like voice.
I clicked my tongue and shook my head at the stranger, "Well, actually...I'm blind, you idiot."
The man went silent after that, the only thing giving away that he was still in front of me was his loud breathing.
"Shit kid, I'm sorry alright? You just have normal looking eyes." He responded after a while of silence.
I scoffed at that and tried to put on my best glare. "That's stereotypical of you. All blind people must have weird looking eyes? Well if I could see you I would make a comment back about your appearance but I can't!" I responded nastily.
I went to push myself off the ground and of course, the guy had to be standing so close to me that when I went to stand up, I ended up head butting his balls. Hard.
"Bloody fucking hell!" He cried. I could only imagine him bending over and clutching at his package.
I rubbed the top of my head and pouted in his direction, "Why the hell does it feel like you have iron underwear on?"
"I can't help it that my balls are hard." He snapped at me before going silent again.
My mouth dropped open as I stared at him with shock. "So now you have a hard on for a poor defenseless blind boy? You are absolutely disgusting, even if you have a sexy voice!"
I immediately regretted what I said after the words came out of my mouth.
"So now you have a hard on for a voice?" He mocked me childishly, trying to mimic my voice.
I shook my head before patting the ground around me. "Where's my stick?" I asked, panicking slightly when I couldn't find it.
It was the only way I could get around without hurting myself.
"It, uh...kinda broke when you feel back." He said before placing the pieces in my hand.
I took a deep breath to keep myself from crying.
I'm not usually one who cries when they get frustrated but this whole situation makes me want to curl up in a ball and die.
"Hey, don't cry kid...I'll help you home." The man said softly, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I shook my head, "No, I don't need your help!"
The man let out an annoyed sound before pulling me off the ground roughly. "Kid you need to learn better manners, I could easily break your neck but I'm helping you instead. Keep the attitude in check or I'll leave you here stranded, then we'll see who's better off without the other." He said rather harshly.
I just nodded and allowed him to grab my upper arm, tightly I might add, as I told him the way to my house.
"I'm sorry, I haven't felt the greatest today." I whispered, looking over at him slightly.
The man sighed, loosening his grip on my arm. "It's alright kid, what's your name?" I had a feeling he asked that to avoid the awkward sorry I had just given him.
"Mateo, and I'm not a kid." I remark.
He chuckled softly, "Whatever you say, kid."
I ignored the last comment and asked for his name instead.
"If I'm correct it looks like the police are at your house." He commented.
"Oh my god." I groaned, "My parents are crazy, I leave the house and they call the police?"
"Mateo! My baby!" I heard my mothers annoying voice cry.
"Kid, I can't be near the cops so I have to go..like now." He ruffled my hair, before turning and walking down the path we had just come up.
"Wait!" I grabbed his arm before he got too far. "What's your name? You didn't answer me before."
"My name is Ryder, now I really have to go. Your parents look pissed and like I said before, the police cannot see my face."
"What? Why can't they?" But before my question was answer, Ryder yanked his arm away and took off down the street. The sound of his feet hitting the pavement getting farther and farther away.
Ryder. I replay the name over and over in my head. I come to the conclusion that I love his name, and I wanted to say it out loud again if not for my parents bombarding me with questions.
So Ryder, why are you running away from the police?
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Unedited
Dedicated to Avylinn because I can never get enough of her stories.
The picture below is how I picture Mateo, but with slightly darker skin!
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Chapter two will be up within a week. It will focus a little more on Ryder and why he couldn't be seen by the police.
It would be great if I you guys could give me suggestions in the comments, I wanna make this the best story possible so any kind of feedback is welcomed!
Again, thank you for reading, don't forget to hit that vote bottom and add this story to your library to get notifications for when it's updated!
Till next time lovelies~