Starry Sky

Tick, tick, tick. The repetitive sound of Ms. Avalon’s analog clock rings through the silent room like a yappy dog at 3 am. Undeterred, unsupervised, and unwanted. I twiddle my thumbs below me, planning an epic battle between Clubby and Chubby in my mind. The room is silent except for the unwanted ticking of the clock, which seems to be of no disruption to Ms. Avalon. She has the prettiest blue eyes, and hair like a million curly chestnuts. Of course I’ve never seen her alive. I’ve seen photos, drawings, descriptions, anything to show me what she would look like, but those are all lifeless pieces of paper thrown away right after their use. I want to see her, just like I’d love to see everyone else, but can’t. That’s when I hear the door, and the slight taps and drags across the floor, connecting quickly and swiftly. I’ve never heard this sound before, and I can’t quite imagine it. I pull out my notebook from my navy blue bag in front of me, purple like a grape, and scribble in the sounds I hear.

March 13

Ms. Avalon’s analog clock - Tick, Tick, Tick

Unknown Object - Click Drag Click Drag click

Unknown Object Pt. 2 - Snap

Front Right hand door @ Mr. Sherman’s office - Click, swish, squeak, Slam

My hand quivers as the last letter escapes my pen, and I throw my shaking utensils back into the bag. My arms begin to shake, and I hold my breath. Usually it passes, the shaking, but sometimes it likes to stay around and watch the floor with me. The tan, tiled floor, with specks of white and maroon imbedded. A piece of gum, black from age, sticks flat to tile #97 in the furthest reaches of my sight. I’m now counting the maroon specks when a sneeze, squeaky and light, echoes through the room. I reach for a package of tissues in my bag, and hand it in the direction of the sneeze.

“Kleenex? Don’t worry, I don’t bite. I know, the back is a bit funky looking, but it’s not gonna bite you either. Trust me.”

I sit there for a good minute, and then my hand begins to quiver. Break time’s over for the shaking. The Kleenex shakes and stirs as my hand erupts into a dance known as the “Shake and Stir”. I hear the clacking of Ms. Avalon’s shoes heading over, but continue to hold out the Kleenex for the sneezer next to me. I see Ms. Avalon’s shiny red heels at my face, glossy and bright, and move my shaking hand to them.

“Arwin won’t bite you dear! The Kleenex are just an arm’s length in front of you… Close, just a little to your left dear… There we go! Now introduce yourself to Mr. Sparrow here, I know he would love to hear a voice other than mine and Mr. Sherman’s around here for a change!”

Ms. Avalon’s high pitched voice and glossy heels clack away, and I’m left with the girl who sneezes and is presumably blind. We sit in severely uncomfortable silence, the kind that you cannot ignore or forget, until a voice as sweet as morning dew rings out in the silence.

“Hello Mr. Sparrow, pleasure to hear you!” Her voice rings through the analog clock and the clacking heels and any other sound I’ve ever heard at this office. I stare at the floor, forcing my fingers through torture as the spin around each other like flies, and finally muster up the courage to speak to her.

“Hello Ms. Whatever-your-name-may-be, I’m Mr. Sparrow, but everyone just calls me Arwin.” I hear a giggle escape her lips before she begins to talk to me again.

“Arwin… That’s a neat name you know, you should hang on to that. My name is Estelle. Estelle Verenia. And sorry about the tissues, I couldn’t see them.

“It’s okay, I can’t see you either, so we’re even.” Another laugh flies through her mouth and out into the room, lighting it like a million stars. I want to talk with her more, get to know her more, hear her laugh more, but of course it’s the one day Mr. Sherman decided to be on schedule.

“Arwin you can come back now. I see you’ve met my newest patient, I’ll be with you soon Ms. Verenia.”

I push my mangled body from the chair and wobble into Mr. Sherman’s office. I take a quick glance behind me, but only see the tan tile ocean I’m leaving behind. If only I could see her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The glare of fluorescent lights wakes me and I see the crumbing off-white tiles on the ceiling staring down. I can see the ceiling… I can see the ceiling! I laugh like a mad man as I move my head and twist my back around for the first time, and then I see her. She’s asleep, but beautiful. She’s smiling lightly, her lips spread across her face like a smear of rose, her skin the color of magnolia petals that I’ve only ever seen in printed pictures. I wanted to wait to see her, unlike many other sites, because she was worth the wait.

“Wow are you beautiful.”

She instantly shoots up like a sprinkler and makes her way toward the sound. She had her surgery for her eyes, but it hasn’t taken it’s full effect yet. She feels around for my hand and squeezes it tightly. Her smile beams brighter than the bright yellow stuffed duck sitting on the nurses station across the hall. Her eyes, I’ve never seen them until now, but they are amazing. They are slowly losing the milkiness they once had and are turning the most beautiful shade of peridot, with speckles of chestnut scattered like speckles on the floor of Mr. Sherman’s office. She has light freckles traced across her nose, and her hair is a bright shade of red. Her smile lights up even more as she removes her sunglasses she was prescribed to wear.

“Arwin, I can see you! I can see the outline of you, and you’re nowhere near what you said you would be, you’re even better.”

She grips my hand tighter as she squeals in joy, finally able to at least see outlines. She’s going to get glasses to be able to have perfect vision, something she has dreamed for since her accident. Both of our fathers loved astronomy. Her father named her for the word “star”, while my father named one of the millions of stars in the sky after me. We have never been able to see the sky. When we did, we were too young to take a second glance. For me, I could draw it. I could draw it anyway I wanted. My skies were mostly a bold purple, with either a smiling sun or a yellow moon, with twinkling stars shining like jewels on a sunny day. She never even got to draw the sky, she only dreamed of it when she was able to. She wrote the most beautiful descriptions, but could never fully live them. I decided to take her on a little adventure once we could both see and run and be free from the tyranny of disability. Free from our blindness guarding us from the most beautiful sights in the world. Free.

~~~~~~~~

“Arwin, where are you taking me? You better tell me right now, I’ve had enough of my eyes being closed, I just got them back!”

Estelle whined like a two year old before we finally were on the hill. I opened her eyes, and she lit up. We were on the tallest hill in town, with a pretty willow behind us. In front, there were thousands of stars twinkling in the night, with the moon shining way up in the deep blue sky. Tears slid down her face, like morning dew off of a flower petal. She ran over to me and hugged the life out of me, tear stains left on my shirt.

“I thought you’d like it. I found it a few days ago while I was wandering, and thought it would be even more beautiful at night. The stars shimmering, the moon glowing, the sky full of life, everything just the way it should be.”

Her smile spread across her face and she ran straight down the hill. Her laughter echoed through the park as she began to roll down the side of the hill, me running behind her. When we finally reached the bottom, our eyes met. Estelle’s a peridot green with brown speckles, mine chestnut with flecks of gold. We didn’t move or blink, we just looked into each others eyes, and when we finally did move, we looked up at the stars. The stars make us dream, they make us feel, they make us breathe. They keep us sane.

~~~~~~~~

The Legend of the Stars

There was once a beautiful girl who looked up at the sky

But she couldn’t see the stars

There once was a boy whose back was hunched

And he couldn’t see the stars

When these two people met

Their love was so deep

The months of holding hands and talking

Gave them eyes to see

So when you go to Celestial Park

And journey to Varenia Hill

You’ll see the stars in the sky holding hands

And singing to the matching graves a top the hill

And when you wonder why the stars

Sing to them each night

Remember that nothing can ever tear apart

The wish of two ailing hearts