So, as promised, I am updating and with a little advertising for the one person who commented. I have known of Shontelleiya (http://www.wattpad.com/user/ShontelleiyaSherree) for quite some time and she has supported me throughout my journey on wattpad, commenting and giving constructive criticism along the way. I find her style of criticism is quite helpful and the way she describes her take on the story is really good. Shontelleiya uses her own life experiences to help me out with this story.
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When I wake up, my head aches... No, worse, it pounds. I sit up gingerly, glancing around my semi-blurring room. I rub my eyes, stretch my arms and yawn. The time on the alarm clock by my bed reads three, earlier than desirable.
Jason is asleep on my bedroom floor, snuggled on top of a sheepskin floormat. I step over him and stumble to my bathroom. Its cooler in here and a shiver rolls through me, shaking my body. The early morning dew settles against the window, streaking it with little dribbles of water. I slop down onto the toilet seat and watch out the window as the branches in the trees shake and toss about in the howling wind.
I realise that these moments will soon just be sounds that I hear with no visual effect whatsoever. I think about how it will be...
To wake up and hear Jason's voice but not be able to see his sleepy face, to hear my mom laugh but not see her smile, to hear the rain but not see it running down my window, or staining my clothes...
It brings a tight ache to my throat at the thought of this possibly being the last ever time...
The sound of an owl in a far away tree is quiet to me now, but when I am blind, it will be so loud... Like my entire world is made up of that one thing, that one noise...
And right in this moment, I feel a deep sense of dread. My whole life will be different. My friends will be different, my family will be different, my home will be different...
"Lauren?" Jason's groggy, sleepy voice startles me from my dreadfullness. "What are you doing? Looking out the window?" He comes over to me, leaving the light off. He squeezes onto the toilet seat beside me, holding me to him in a warm embrace and kisses my neck.
I nod slowly, "I was just looking at the beautiful sight." I say with a sigh.
"Close your eyes." His instruction surprises me.
I do so, anyway, even though I can't think of anything worse at the moment.
"Tell me what you hear?" He whispers in my ear.
I smirk a little. "You."
A small scoff brings my attention to Jason where he looks down at me, "Come on, Lauren. Tell me, really. Tell me all of the sounds that you can here."
I focus back on the window and sigh, closing me eyes tight. "Okay... Um, I can hear the wind in the tree outside the window..." I start, training my ears on all of the sounds around me. "I can hear my heart beating in my ears... I can hear the sound of our breaths in here, echoing."
Jason exhales quietly, "Now let me tell you what I see..." He whispers, his mouth close to my ear. It sends a shiver down my spine and across my limbs. "I can see little droplets of water running down the windowpane, collecting at the bottom. I can see a slowly brightening sky, still spotted here and there by clouds that seem to be holding oceans of rain." His breath is so soft and warm in my ear, around the bathroom. I can feel his warm hands on my waist, his arms around me, his head beside mine.
There's so much that I never acknowledged before, the sounds, the feelings... The emotions.
"I can see little droplets of rain and dew on the leaves of the tree outside. They look like millions of little stars, shimmering in the half-light. The trunk of the tree is darker than usual, almost black in colour, wet because of the rain. I can see the streetlight shining on the puddles down on the road, which is dark with moistness. The houses across the street are dark, lights off and curtains drawn. Everyone else is asleep, Lauren." Now his lips are back at my ear. "And do you know what else I can see?"
