Colours of a Sunset

Part 5

Part 5

I remember three days prior to that event, on an unusually cold evening, Dad had made pork roast for dinner and Ben had cut up all the pieces for me. I didn’t know why he made this dinner so extravagant, and Ben was completely happy, I could hear him laugh and his voice was everywhere in the room, ringing in my ears from afar and right next to me.

It was an important night, and I hadn’t cried as much as I did that night since it made news to me that Mum had passed.

“Jade, are you ready to hear this?” My heart was beating fast when Dad said these words and slowly, I nodded, stabbing my fork onto the plate in hope of getting a piece of meat.

“Well, so I only find out about this today…” He paused and the suspense was getting worse and worse by the second and all I could hear was the sound of forks and knives scraping against the plate.

“Just get on with it, Dad.” Ben complained.

“Okay, okay,” Dad said, “While I was at work this morning, somebody tripped down the stairs so I took them to the hospital, and they ended up getting a cast for their ankle–”

“It gets better!” Ben promised.

“–and I talked to a doctor who recommended me to a specialist whom I have a meeting with next week.” I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, what was the whole point of this?

“The specialist refers to eyes specifically. I don’t know the full details yet–but the doctor hinted about there being a willing donor.” My lips pressed into a thin line and I didn’t know what to do–what to say. I was excited, yet anxious and completely overwhelmed by the fact that soon–hopefully soon I could see.

“Are you saying–”

“Yes! He’s saying that one day you’ll be able to see!” Ben interrupted and I could hear his chair slide against the floor.

“I could see the colours!”

“And the sky!”

“And how a sunset really looks like,”

“And all those flowers in the meadow.”

“Oh my god.” I whisper.

“Oh my god.” He whispers back in solid agreement. And for some reason, I burst out crying. Not with sadness, not with distaste or anything bad at all, but the fact that I will be able to see one day, not just feel the warmth of the sunlight spread against my skin or the fabric of someone’s shirt when I go in to hug them, but I’ll be able to see what colour they’re wearing. What their expressions might look like, how they look when they say certain words or what colour someone’s hair is.

That gave me so much hope, and I spent the next five days just dreaming about it all. Wondering what it’d be like, when I wake up–what would be the first thing I see?