This was actually an assignement for my Creative Writing class a few years ago. I really want to keep this forever, which is why it is here.
I
have a beautiful friend named Sal. She has beautiful brunette hair, fair skin
and a pair of mesmerizing honey brown eyes. Every time I look at her I feel
happy and sad at the same time. She always looks so cheerful and she always has
this positive aura that whoever approaches her, will feel as happy as her. But
it saddens me to know that despite having the beauty that she possesses
naturally, she couldn’t see it for herself. She always asks me about the view
from the top of our valley or what the park looks like during fall and winter.
I know that it kills her little by little on the inside every time she hears
people say “Oh it’s beautiful!!” when she couldn’t see a thing and it kills me a little too every time she says
“Oh I bet it’s very beautiful.”
One fine afternoon, she asked me to
take her to the park. We always go there for walks or play on the swings or
even just to sit quietly and enjoy each other’s silences. Suddenly, when we
were walking over a bridge, she asked me,
“Billy, how is the weather today?”
with a soft smile of her lips and her right little hand holding on to my arm.
“Well, it is sunny, Sal. Not the
‘oh, it’s very hot’ kinda sunny, but a picnic day kind of sunny.” I tried by
best to explain to her simply. I didn’t want to make her all worked up thinking
about what sunny days look like. But, the question didn’t stop there,
“Billy, I can’t see sunny day, I
can’t feel the sunny day. I want to see, Billy. I’m tired of living in the darkness.”
She said while holding her left hand out in motion of searching for something
to be held or felt- in this case the sunny day. Her voice was really sad and I
heard a little crack in it that I knew she was holding back tears.
“Sal, honey…” I took a deep breath
and hugged her. She had been holding on for so long and this was the time for
her loosen up her reigns.
“Sal, you don’t need eyes to enjoy a
sunny day. You don’t have to have eyes to see beauty. It’s not your eyes that tell
you about beauty, it’s your heart.” As I said that, her tears slowly fell and
rolling down her cheeks.
“For example, a snowy day could just
mean a white cold thing covering every inch of the surface- what’s the beauty
in that? This is for someone that can see but doesn’t put in any meaning to
what they see. They didn’t find beauty because they can’t see it with their
heart. They only see it with their physical sight. ” I saw her nod as a sign
that she had understood and wanted me to keep going.
“Sal, all you need to do is see
things with your heart, feel. I can help you. Here.” I took her right hand and
lead her to the side of the bridge. I put her hand on the bridge’s handle.
“You feel that? That’s the warmth of
the sun.” I then pulled her to the field nearby the bridge.
“Come Sal, lie down next to me. Just
relax.” She lied down next to me with her hands behind her head- she did looked
relax.
“Do you feel the warmth of the sun
on your skin?” I asked and she said,
“Yeah, it’s very relaxing. And the
grass is so soft and warm, I feel like sleeping on a warm comfortable bed.” I
said while smiling.
“Yeah, I agree. Now, do you smell
that? It’s food- delicious food.” I said while doing a sniffing sound and she
did the same too.
“Now can you hear that? Children are
laughing and screaming playing with each other-”
“I bet they are on a picnic!” she
said just before I could finish.
“Yes, you’re absolutely right. Now, can
you feel their happiness?” I try to say that as softly as
possible because I’m afraid that it would upset her thinking that she can’t see
them being happy. But instead she said,
“Yes, I do. And it’s very
contagious! I feel like running and playing with them too! ” She said with an
upbeat voice. “Oh! I can hear birds chirping! How nice! ” She suddenly got up
and run towards the middle of the field with her arms stretched out to her
sides. When she ran, her hair flew hard like she was waving a brown flag tied
on her head.
“Billy!!” I ran to her side and her
hand caught my arm again.
“Sal…”
“I can see it Billy. And it’s
beautiful!” She said with tears of happiness in her eyes.
