A/N: Based on the Riverworld novels by Philip Jose Farmer. Waking up on a new world along with everyone who has ever lived can be a shock; more for some than others. A short look at that world through the eyes of someone other than the main characters of the books.

Blind Chance

Yvonne Marie Dubois awoke, lying on her back and arms at her side. She became immediately confused, almost as if she couldn't tell if she was still dreaming or simply crazy. Without moving a muscle, she could hear water running as if a she were by a stream; her hands twitched slightly and she could feel grass beneath her fingertips.

It didn't smell like where she went to sleep. She had gone to sleep blanketed by the smell of antiseptic and all things sterile. This place smelled of life; grass, dirt, water, and something else. She could hear voices too, but not in the French that she knew. She caught a few English words, but most of it was just so much noise; the hospital ward certainly had changed overnight.

Instinctively she sat up and opened her eyes.

Then she screamed.

She flung herself back down, closing her eyes tightly. "Qu'est-ce que c'est? Je suis fou!" she cried as she pounded the ground with her fist, believing that she had gone mad with what she had just seen. She settled into a repeated rocking motion, sobbing and uttering a soft "Aidez moi" over and over in a plea for help.

She was startled and took a sharp breath when she felt a soft touch on her hand. "Bonjour, puis-je vous aider?" a man's voice asked, offering help.

"You speak French?"

"I do," the voice continued "along with a few others, although I think it is blind chance that we both speak French here. What help do you require my dear?"

"Please, tell me what you see around you" she asked of him.

"Around me? Grass. People, everyone in their natural state it seems. A clear sky, a wide river, mountains and trees a short distance away. Everyone seems to have a container strapped to their wrist. Don't you believe your eyes?" he asked, somewhat amused. "Don't be frightened by what you see. I think most of these people seem surprised, myself included. There seems to be no immediate danger, no wild animals or rampaging soldiers. You are safe I think."

"You don't understand, sir. I can't believe my eyes; I haven't seen anything since I was a child!" She trembled, not knowing what to think.

"You were blind before you woke up here? But that is glorious, for now you can see! I don't know where we are or why we are here, but surely it can't be for evil if you have been given your sight and me my youth" he went on.

"Youth? How old am I? I mean, how old do I look?" she asked.

"It's hard to say, for none of us has any hair, but everyone looks to be in their early twenties or so. And I see no corpulence, no scars, no limping or even a rash. See for yourself."

"NO! I spent seventy years without my sight; I don't even know how to see anymore, it's been too long." She started rocking again. "It's too much for me" she said before feeling her hands taken by another pair.

"I, Jacques de Seingalt, will be here and guide you on your way. You can do it, I know you can. What is your name?"

"Yvonne Dubois."

"Very well Yvonne, we will take it slowly. Please, without opening your eyes, sit up and I shall sit beside you." Jacques sat down when Yvonne had rolled back into a sitting position, her eyes tightly closed.

"Very good. Now think back; do you have any memories of when you could see?"

"Not really, it's more of a feeling that I used to be able to see as a child. I kind of remember what being in a room looks like, and I remember a toy I had. I think the rest my mind made up to match what I could hear and feel. I can't even remember colors."

"You have so much to look forward to, I'm excited for you" Jacques confessed.

"Um..." she said, becoming embarrassed. "Speaking of excited, no one has any clothes? Even us? How indecent!"

"No, you'd be surprised. It must be the shock, but I do not find the excitement in our flesh that I would have in my previous life. I guess it was a previous life, I can think of no other way to put it. But for the time being all manner of salaciousness seems to be gone."

"Let me feel your face" she asked "if you would permit me."

He took her hands and placed them upon his face. Her practiced fingers traced the contours of his face as she attempted to learn it; her fingers had learned to see what her eyes could not. "Forgive me the candidness Yvonne, but I have been touched by many women in my life; however, this is by far the most...intimate. It's extraordinary."

"It is" she agreed "if for nothing more than you have no eyebrows. But I'm learning your face; afterward I can tell it without you speaking a word. In this world, yours is the face of kindness."

Jacques blushed. "You flatter me, which takes some doing considering I am my own best supporter." Yvonne removed her hands from his face as she laughed. "I think that is the first laugh I have heard here. Thank you."

"My pleasure; I suspect modesty does not come to you easily sir."

"Easily? I invented modesty! Invented it for other people naturally, but there it is then."

She laughed again. "Oh, maybe I can do it after all. What do I do? How do I start?"

"Let's see...I heard you scream before I came over here. What made you do it?"

"I opened my eyes expecting to see nothing. But...but..." She wrapped her arms around herself as if to get a better grasp of sanity. "I was flooded with too much, like everyone shouting at once into my eyes. That doesn't make much sense I know."

"On the contrary, it makes perfect sense. When I have been in a dark room for some time, it can be quite the assault on my mind to quickly walk out into a bright sunny day, even if I know what to expect. It must have been worse for you. So we must start you off slowly. Let me get behind you." He scooted around and sat behind her but very close. "Now I am going to cover your eyes with my hands. Be sure to hold your eyes shut very tightly." He placed his hands over her eyes from behind, covering not just her eyes but much of her face. "Now I am pressing them against your face to shut out as much light as possible. I want you to open your eyes just for a moment and close them again."

She opened her eyes for a moment and snapped them shut again.

"Okay, what did you see?" he asked.

"Nothing; it was as if I didn't open my eyes at all."

"Good. Now I want you to do it again but this time leave your eyes open for as long as you can; don't worry, I won't move my hands."

Yvonne did as she was asked. "I still can't see anything." After a moment she continued. "Wait, I can see something; there are lines going across in front of me that are lighter."

"That is the light leaking between my fingers; I haven't moved them, but your eyes are becoming accustomed to the dark. I'm tilting your head back ever so slightly...there. Now, I'm going to relax my fingers just a little bit, don't worry. Tell me what happens." Jacques moved his fingers just a little bit.

"I don't see any...oh...the light changed. It's brighter, and different. I think I'm seeing a little bit of the sky. Is that blue? I've heard people say the sky is blue. Please close your fingers tighter again, let me think."

He closed his fingers tighter again. "Yes, that was a little sliver of blue sky you saw. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I think so. It was just a color I guess, I didn't see anything else."

"A good start my dear. Now, another color. Let me tip your head down and to your right, carefully." She tipped her head again in the indicated direction. "Okay, we'll do the same thing again and tell me what you see this time."

"I see...another color. This must be green, if it's real grass" she said as she ran her hand over the ground's covering.

"I think it is real, although I haven't tasted it" he said. "But it feels good between my toes."

"Then it is grass to me; I think I can even see some of the blades."

"You are doing so well. Now close your eyes again, and sit straight up."

"Okay, they're closed" she said as she returned her head upright again.

"Now be brave, I know you can. Cup your hands to make a tunnel in front of your eyes. No, like this" he said as he placed her hands to create makeshift blinders. "Now, when you are ready, open your eyes just a little and only look straight ahead. Close them if you must."

"Okay, I'm opening...no, not yet." She took a deep breath. "I'll try again. Just a little...I see...okay, they're closed."

"What did you see?"

"I saw sky above. I saw just a little grass on the bottom. And I saw some different things in between. One was moving, so it must be the river."

"Yes, a deep blue river. What else?"

"There was a thin line above the river, kind of jagged."

"That was the far shore of the river, and the mountains on the other side. They are not quite black, but a dark gray color. They stretch out of sight in both directions. Care to try again? Remember what you saw, and see it again knowing what it is."

Yvonne tried again. "Yes, it is as I remember. If I move slowly I can see...a big shape near us. Is it a rock?"

"It looks like one" Jacques reflected "but that is an unnatural shape; it looks like a giant stone mushroom." While he was looking at the stone, Yvonne slowly widened her hands out until at last she pulled them away completely from her face. Bravely, she stared at the scene before her; the sky, the grass, the river, and the people.

"It's so...big? I'm having a little trouble focusing, but there's so much to see. I can even see my toes!" She wiggled them and was delighted to see them move. "And my legs and...oh...ahem...I seem to have forgotten to dress for the occasion."

"Quite the contrary, you are dressed exactly as everyone else." A man was walking around the mushroom-shaped stone when suddenly a huge electric charge came from it, burning the man as he crumpled to the ground dead.

Yvonne screamed and buried her head in her hands. "No no no no no...oh, why was I given sight only to see something like that! I can't get it out of my head now" she continued as she wept.

"Yvonne, listen to me please. We all must face what life presents to us, both the beautiful and the horrific. Surely you've known people who were kind, and others that were cruel? Friends and family that were with you one day and beyond this mortal coil the next? Well, I believe we've all passed on from the world we knew and now start fresh again. Open your eyes and look upon that man. What do you see?"

She reluctantly opened her eyes and looked. "I see what was once a man, now horribly burned."

"And what of the other people?"

"Some are checking the body, while I can hear others are nearby weeping."

"You see? Life, or whatever life this is, still goes on. Others feel your horror at the death too, but we can and must rise above that; it is that most grand ability to feel empathy but still have the desire to see what this day and the next brings. I have no doubt that good and evil still exists here, for if we brought that essence of our humanity with us, then that struggle is still at the core of our beings. This new beginning has given us a chance to start over, to embrace all that is best of our humanity. But you must do it with your eyes open."

"I...have seen the face of death from that poor man. Now let me look upon the face of kindness and wisdom." She stood and turned to look at Jacques before extending her hand. "Please stand so that I can study your face better." He stood and she stepped closer, bringing her hands up to his head. Closing her eyes, she once again felt his face with her fingertips, remembering the contours and features as she opened her eyes again. A smile came to her face. "This is the oddest experience, for I have done this many times before but never seeing what I was doing."

"I am no epitome of kindness and wisdom, but I am flattered and vow to present you those qualities as best I am able" he smiled back.

"Oh, but you are kind. I could never imagine you as some Casanova" she confided.

"What?" Jacques asked, suddenly dropping his smile.

"Sorry, I intended no insult. I just meant that you seem the type to not take advantage of me, unlike some womanizers I've known."

Jacques sputtered. "I...would never do such a thing to you. You have my word."

"Thank you. Can we go over to that big stone? There are people gathering over there and you might be able to translate for me what they are saying. If you would, Mr. Seingalt" she said as she bowed.

"It would be my pleasure, Yvonne Dubois" he said bowing as well. And, he thought to himself, it would also be my pleasure to leave behind the name that I was known as in that life that I also leave behind...Giacomo Girolamo Casanova.

The End

A/N: 'Jacques de Seingalt' was a pseudonym for Giacomo Girolamo Casanova in his writings, but would he be surprised and pleased or disappointed at the connotation his name had to a man's behavior? Maybe a new start on the Riverworld might give him a chance to reform his ways...