The One with all the Angst (Oneshots)

The One Where She Doesn't Need Eyes To See (Part 1)

Author's note: This story contains bullying and death that might be triggering. So read at your own risk. Sorry for the grammatical errors.

Narrator's POV

Lisa Manoban was a gifted child.

At a very young age, she could paint a masterpiece that only adults who have a degree in arts can produce. However, Lisa was just 4 years old when she created her first masterpiece that sold for the same price as the most expensive Leica camera she had dreamed of having.

However, a tragedy happened when she was 11.

She and her baby brother were left alone in their house. Her father was away meeting some art curators for Lisa's next art exhibition while her mother asked her to look after her blind baby brother so she could go to the market and buy ingredients for their supper later.

When Lisa's mother was 8 months pregnant with her baby brother, her mother suddenly acquired a disease that the doctor suspected caused blindness to her child when she gave birth to him.

Lisa's baby brother was born blind.

After Lisa got the sterilized bottle for his baby brother's milk, she prepared his milk and went to the nursery room, and gave it to her 1-and-a-half-year-old brother. Her brother was busy playing with his pacifier before his sister gently took it out from his mouth and replaced it with the milk bottle she prepared for him.

"Mom was just at the market, Liam. She'll be back right away so you behave here, okay? Just finish your milk and just stay here. I'll be just downstairs, alright?" Lisa said to her baby brother before she proceeded downstairs where the old laundry area was converted into a studio for her to use for her paintings.

Seeing the smile of her baby brother gave her inspiration for her next piece.

During Lisa's first year of painting, there was a painter she looked up to and eventually became her mentor. Her mentor once asked her what inspired her to paint but she couldn't answer her because she doesn't know what really inspires her.

She just answered that everything that she sees inspires her. She was then asked what was the most important thing to her by the veteran painter. She then answered her mentor truthfully.

She said it was Liam. Her baby brother.

Lisa was so immersed in painting her baby brother while being accompanied by her favorite music from her favorite band. Little did she know, that once her baby brother finished his milk and got bored in the nursery room, he crawled out of the nursery room.

Before Lisa went back downstairs to continue to paint, she forgot to lock the child security railings that her parents installed so that Liam couldn't get down the stairs.

Her baby brother was crying out loud but Lisa couldn't hear him because of the loud music being played in her studio and her immense concentration in painting. The toddler then followed where the music was coming from but he fell from the stairs.

Lisa then suddenly heard a sound that made her jolt out of her trance.

She immediately went out of her studio and headed to check on her baby brother. She was horrified when she saw her unconscious baby brother pass out on the end of the staircase. She panicked even more when her baby brother was not responding.

Ever since Lisa's baby brother died in an accident, she never touched a paintbrush again. She canceled all art exhibitions she was supposed to do and didn't even finish the painting she was doing right before the accident.