So, I wrote this for an Instagram writing contest, and I figured I could just post it here also, for the heck of it.

I know something is wrong when the knock on the door goes "rap-tap-tap". When Hazel comes to visit from the apartment next to mine, the knock is softer, slower. Thump, thump, thump. Who could be visiting me, coming with a firm, official-sounding, almost intimidating knock?

"Isaac?" Amy, my girlfriend, asks, sounding puzzled and slightly uneasy. She knows the knock isn't a friendly one, just as well as I do, though she isn't blind, like I am. I feel the cushions on the couch shift as she stands. "Who's at the door?"

I turn to her general direction, though I can't see her. "I'm not quite sure."
The knock repeats. Rap-tap-tap. Amy's footsteps echo through my apartment as she approaches the door. "I'm coming!" She calls. The door opens with a "whoosh".

"Hello, is Isaac Shostak home?" A male voice, deep and dignified, asks.

"Yes," Amy replies stiffly. "And who are you?"

"I am Dr. Rory Smith," the voice at the door introduces himself. "I have something to discuss with your...husband?"

Amy chuckles. "Boyfriend. Come inside, Dr. Smith. Isaac! Someone is here for you!"

I stand up, dreading whatever might be coming. Who is this doctor, and what does he want with me?

"Isaac," Dr. Smith says, his voice now coming from directly in front of me. "I have developed something that may help you greatly. After several years of studying prosthetics, optometry, and neurosciences, I have finally developed working robotic eyes. You have been chosen to be among the first to receive these, Isaac, and try them on, with your consent."

My throat feels like it's having a fistfight with itself. "Y-you developed..." I cut myself off, unable to go any further.

"Yes, Isaac," Dr. Smith replies. "Robot eyes."

A memory, painful as walking through fire, fights its way to the front of my mind. A memory from a time I recall with addictive agony every day. A memory of something I couldn't see, but felt enough for the rest of my life.

"When the scientists of the future show up at my house with robot eyes and they tell me to try them on, I will tell the scientists to screw off, because I do not want to see a world without him."

I had told Augustus this, back at his pre-funeral, twelve years ago. No. I promised him. I promised my best friend.

"Dr. Smith..." I take a deep breath. Yes. I'm sure of what I'm doing. "Screw off, Dr. Smith. Give those eyes to someone else."

"But, Isaac..." Amy gasps. "You'll never see anything again. You'll never know what I look like, how the cover of your favorite book actually looks...Isaac. Are you sure about this?"

I open my mouth, then close it. She won't understand. She won't understand the promise I made to Augustus, all those years ago. She won't understand that I don't want to see a world without him.
I nod my head. "Yes. I'm sure."

So...that's...yeah. If anyone asks, I can write a chapter or two about Hazel post-Augustus. Well...bye!