Daddy's Eyes

• Alyssa Batey, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2016

A puff of dust rose as the car pulled into the campsite.
"Wake up sleepy head."
The small boy slowly lifted his head and mumbled "Are we there yet?"
"Yeah we're here, buddy." His father replied. The boy rubbed his eyes and slowly got out of the car. He looked around and examined the site, "Where's the tent?" He asked.
"Oh honey," his mother said, helping his father get out of the car. "we have to put up the tent."
An hour later the tent was up and the sun was setting. The boys mother pulled out a camera and started taking pictures. Click, click, click.
"Mum?" The boy tugged on her skirt "Mum?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Can I have a go?" He said, trying to grab the camera.
"I don't know, it's a bit heavy."
"I'm a big strong boy!." he said cheerily with a big smile on his face.
"Go on," his dad budded in, eavesdropping from the campfire. "let him have a go."
“Alright." She said, "To take the picture you press this small button here, ok?"
"Yeah." He replied happily "I got it." He held the camera up towards the fading sunset and took the photo.
Click.
He looked at the screen and let out a soft sigh.
"What's the matter sweetie?" His mum asked as she bent over to look at the photo, it looked like someone stepped on the sky.
"It's ok sweetie, I'll help you take another one." She helped him hold the camera up steadily and took the photo, click. They covered the screen and peered at the photo.
"What does it look like?" His father asked from the fire.
"A sunset." He said quite simply.
"Tell me what it looks like, shapes, colours." His father said
"Well," the boy started “it’s warm, and it glows as if it’s filled with hope. It stares across the water at me, waiting for me to smile. It has pinks and oranges oozing from it, as if someone had wrung out a paint filled sponge across the sky."
Then his father began to cry. "What's wrong daddy?" The small boy asked innocently as he went to comfort his father.
"I saw that." His father replied.
"But daddy," he said "you're blind you can't see."
"I didn't see it with my eyes." His father said, still sniffling, "I saw it in here." He said pointing to his chest.
"But you can't see with your chest." The boy says so innocently.
"I didn't see it with my chest I saw it with my heart." His father said
"Oh, I don't think you can see with that either." The boy said confused. His father started laughing. "I love you buddy." He said rubbing his son's head.
"Love you too dad." The boy replied with a grin on his face.
Then for the rest of the night the three of them lay on the ground looking to the sky of stars while the boy delicately describes them for his father.