Darkness

• Summer Rowland-smith, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2019

I wake up, and everything is black. I yawn and get up. I get dressed, carefully pulling the soft fabric over my head. I leave the house and go for a stroll down the road. I breathe in my surroundings. I can sense a group of joggers nearby. I hold my breath. Five, four, thr… There it is. I can feel the group of joggers stare at me as they run past. I can feel their penetrating stare burning into my skin, crawling up across my arm. I can feel their eyes fixed on my milky eyes. I can feel the anger, the frustration starting, like a small flame destined to grow bigger, grow stronger. Eat up the bushes around it, burning all the energy inside until there is no more… and neither is there bushes. More people start filling the path, parents with babies and small children, elderly people taking a walk. And all their eyes are set on me. I tilt my head down, hoping to extinguish the flames as I try not to feel their daggers. I run.
My name is Addie, by the way. I am blind. Every day I wake up to blackness. I was born with my disability. I have lived through fifteen years of blindness. No one understands me. I feel alienated from the rest of the world. No human on the planet could ever feel as lonely and as distressed as I do. Planet Me – Population: 1. And high school doesn’t make it any better. The stares I get every day as I walk through the halls would be more than anyone would get in a lifetime. Their eyes on mine. The sympathy they give me, as they look down on me with pity. All the extra help. No human could feel like I feel. I had given up hope that life could get better.
Christmas was right around the corner and instead of wishing for my two front teeth, I was, yet again, wishing for my blindness to clear up for good. But as I woke up on Christmas morning to darkness yet again, I knew nothing had changed. I cautiously made my way down stairs, hands gripping the railing. As I finally reached the bottom, I was immediately bowled over by something small, furry and full of beans. It was a dog. He started to lick the happy tears streaming down my cheeks. I had never been so happy in my life. This dog was a guide dog. He was soft and playful and the loveliest little bundle of joy. From that day on, I didn’t feel so lonely. Ninja was there to sooth my frustration and anger as I walked down the street. He stayed by my side in my most desperate times of need. He was always there when I needed him most. For a cuddle, for a pat, for a walk…for a friend. When someone said you can’t buy happiness, I guess they didn’t think of dogs.