Blind Man, Blind World (short-short) - Writers Forum

Kinga · 01-12-2006, 10:01 PM

Blind Man, Blind World

The last of the sessions was probably the most significant in terms of finishing my book about Charles Dayton’s lifetime achievement in literature. As usual, I was told by the housekeeper to wait in the den. By this time, I had memorized where all of Mr. Dayton’s books were on the shelves, and I took upon making sure they were in their usual order. He was always more than half an hour late, and this particular evening was no exception.
However, I have never questioned his behavior because I knew that being the man that he was, Mr. Dayton did not appreciate being told that he was in any way vulnerable and in this specific case, vulnerable to time.

He finally walked in and sat down in a lounge chair across from the sofa, which I was sitting on. Of course no apologies or excuses were attempted on his end. He told me to get right to business because he had a long day. I began by asking some questions that were on the top of my notepad. Unfortunately, his answers were always brief and for that reason, I had to have a lot of questions prepared ahead of time.

When we started our discussions in the previous months, I did not think that Mr. Dayton’s mask could have the power to intrigue anyone. The mask possessed an outline of a nose, an opening for a mouth, and strangely enough, tape, where the eye holes were. I could not look directly at him when he was speaking because of the way that the piece of plastic had
intimidated me. I guess one can say that my behavior was rather strange, since Charles Dayton lost his sight at a very young age. I told myself this fact a thousand times, so I would not act as awkward around him and to be more punctual with my questions. However, as we began seeing each other more often, I began wondering what mysteries hid under that mask. My fellow writers warned me not to ask Mr. Dayton about his intentions, and I understood why when I began noticing that he did not like being tested. Therefore, I was forced to hold back my curiosity at all times.

Knowing that this would be the last time that I would be speaking to Mr. Dayton, I began drifting away from our session and began thinking about what he could look like underneath his disguise. I pictured an extremely old, beaten-up face that sunk in his wrinkles. The worst part of my image were his eyes. I figured that they had to be crippled in some way if he went through extra trouble to hide them. I could not decide whether he was cross-eyed or if he simply had no pupils.

"So I guess that would be all then," Mr. Dayton began standing up.

"Huh? Umm... I guess that would be all," I replied with much confusion.

I gathered my supplies and arose from the sofa clumsily, still in shock from my daydreaming.

"I hope that this book of yours will be a decent interpretation," he said as he was twisting the knob.

"Yes, yes of course, but before I leave, could I ask you something that I was curious about from the first day that we’ve met?" I managed to pose the question, but my tone of voice was so soft that I was not sure if Mr. Dayton had heard it.

He took his hand off the knob and without saying a word, he grasped the mask from underneath and pulled it off. I was silent for minutes, just staring at his face. It was nothing like I had imagined it would be, but rather, it owned the most beautiful features that a person could have. Charles Dayton did not have a single wrinkle on his face, and his eyes were the only gray aspect of his look.

"I’m sorry, but why would you hide such a beautiful face from the world?" I managed to get a few words out of my daze.

"Let me ask you, Ms. Colby. Why is it that such a beautiful world is hidden from me?"

defenestrator · 01-12-2006, 11:18 PM

It's a good story, well done. I especially liked the last two lines.

indulge in me · 01-13-2006, 05:16 PM

There are no words. Just fantastic! Splendid! Wonderful!

Kinga · 01-14-2006, 07:34 AM

Thanks for the positive input!

semtecks · 01-14-2006, 04:22 PM

Oww! i think my retinas just shrank to the size of pinpricks ...

I thnk I see what's happened here, it's happened to me a couple of times. Press edit, then press advanced editor. Change the font to Verdana -- or whatever you prefer -- and then change the font size to number two.

Sometimes my stories come out in huge clown letters, it's all to do with what font you're using when you paste. I'll be happy to read and tell you what I think when I can see it.