Children Of The Crucible

Blair Part 2

Authors note
Hey everyone, just wanted to say a big thank you for 500+ reads! It's means so much!

Blair's PoV

There was light streaming into my room through the gap in my curtains when I woke up. My alarm hadn't gone off but I knew that trying to go back to sleep would be pointless, so I decided I might as well get up.

I slid out of bed and put on my glasses. I began making my bed as the room was brought into focus. Pretty much everyone in my family wears glasses apart from my mum. Lucky her.

As I adjusted the sheet, I noticed my table seemed to be a lot further away than it actually was, as though my room was stretching out before me. I rubbed my head and it seemed to go back to normal.

I still had twenty minutes until my alarm was supposed to go off so I decided to quickly finish off my English homework. I was supposed to memorise some quotes from the play we were doing but I couldn't focus on the words. They kept changing size, my eyes zooming in and out, unable to focus on the page.

I spun around in my chair to face the window. It looked much too far away. What was going on? In my panic, I closed my eyes to try and work out what was happening. It didn't have anything to do with my prescription- I didn't have a headache and I'd had an eye test only the month before. Tentatively, I opened my eyes again, realising gratefully that everything had returned to normal. I sighed and placed my homework in my bag. I could remember most of the quotes anyway, but had just wanted to go over them once more to make sure.

I wandered into the kitchen where I shoved a few slices of bread in the toaster and boiled the kettle for coffee. I turned to open the fridge and nearly jumped in fright when it seemed a foot closer to my face than usual. I reached out to open it, but my hand couldn't find the handle. Taking a step forward, I tried again. Nothing. I took another step forward, feeling like my face should be pressed against it, but still I couldn't feel a thing.

I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. I looked up and was hit with a huge wave of disorientation. I was standing in the middle of my kitchen with my hand outstretched before me, reaching into open air for the fridge.

I took a cautious step towards it. Everything seemed normal. I really needed to get more sleep. Opening the fridge, I took out some butter for my toast. Right on time too- the toast was just ready.

I ate quickly, planning to rush to the opticians before I went to school. I didn't want make a fool of myself by bumping into doors and reaching for things 3 metres away from me. I rushed back to my room and grabbed my bag before leaving the house. My parents had already left for work so they wouldn't wonder why I was leaving so early.

The opticians was on the high street which was only a five minute walk from my house. I kept my head bent low over the pavement just in case I ran into someone I knew.

Thankfully, it was open when I arrived. The lady sitting at the desk was on a call and so gestured for me to take a seat. I guessed that she was on the phone to her friend though, because of the things she was saying.

'Did you see the new glasses in the window last week? God, they were so ugly. Oh, and you'll never believe this. Someone came in wanting to buy a pair of sunglasses. It's the middle of winter!What's that? Oh, I know!'

And so she went on. Eventually, she hung up and turned to face me. I had been pretending to study a picture in a magazine but it might've looked a tiny bit fake. I was holding it upside down and barely any of the text was even visible through the scribbles some kid had made on it.

'Can I help you?' A fake smile plastered itself across her face.

I hadn't actually rehearsed what I was going to say so I just had to wing it.

'Um hi, I don't suppose I would be able to get a last minute eye test, would I? I haven't made an appointment but my vision has gone kind of funny and I didn't know if my prescription needed changed.'

She didn't look very interested in my explanation but she said I could get one all the same, as long as it was quick. She led me to a room where a man in his late thirties looked over at me. She explained to him that I wanted a quick eye test then walked out of the room.

'Hello young man. What seems to be the issue with your eyes? Oh, I'm Dan by the way.'

'Nice to meet you. I'm Blair. Well, I keep thinking objects are closer to or further away from me than they actually are.'

'Ok, I'll give your eyes a quick test and find out what's happening.'

He ran through all the boring stuff, reading letters off the board, pointing out what numbers are blurred and the like. After about ten minutes we were finished.

'Hmmm, I don't know what's wrong with your vision, Blair, because I can't find anything out of the ordinary. If I'm being completely honest, it seems better than before. You got every question right without wearing your glasses.'

'Ok thanks for your time, I'd best be going to school.'

I left the shop, noticing that the receptionist was once again on the phone to her friend.

'I know I watched it last night. Hold on, that kid's staring at me again. No, I don't know what his problem is.'

I walked out the door and took my glasses off. I could see perfectly. Everything was as clear as it looks when I am wearing my glasses, maybe even more.

I decided to take the long way to school, wanting a little more time to reflect on what was going on. I glanced across the street to the cafe, debating going in to get a drink. I looked at the sign in the window for the prices but the print was too small. Just as I was about to go closer, my vision changed. It seemed to zoom in on the text and I could read it perfectly.

What the actual hell? I nearly fell over in my shock. My eyes flitted across the street, seeing everything in perfect, zoomed in detail. I backed up towards the wall, trying to zoom out, to see normally again. It stayed the same. Trying to sqaush my panic, I tried a different technique, concentrating my mind on zooming out instead. Sure enough, it worked.

Wait, this was actually pretty cool. I looked at the cafe sign again. I didn't have enough money to go in. Ah well, I didn't want to go in anymore, not now that I had discovered this ability. I walked on towards school, practicing zooming my vision in and out as I went. It truly was amazing. One thing troubled me though- how did I have this ability?