I'm so sorry that this chapter has taken so long to post. It was a challenge to get it to the point that I liked it. Still not 100% what I'd hoped it to be, but I'm tired of looking at it. :-)

And then my Beta's life got in the way of her reviewing it for me. I hate to post before she's had her say.

Thanks to Resourceress7 for her corrections and input.

Chapter Nine – Auggie Walks into Trouble

Auggie's right index finger skimmed the page he was trying to read. The radio, still on the oldies station, to his side played softly.

Radio was better than nothing, but he missed his iPod. Even though he'd finally found the iPod nestled between the towels in his military duffel bag a few days ago, he had grown increasingly frustrated with trying to navigate to his beloved jazz playlists. The click wheel and menu screens just were not built for users who needed tactile and audio access. His first impulse had been to toss it against the wall, but had quickly thought better of that action. After all it wasn't the instrument's fault that he could no longer read its screen. But like him, it had been through enough and didn't deserve to be destroyed. Maybe the computer technology instructor could help him get his music files stored in another device.

He was ready for a break when the opening bars of Survivor's Eye of the Tiger began to pulse out from the radio's speakers. He paused to listen to the lyrics.

Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive …

The beat and the lyrics of the Rocky III tune buoyed him. It was a song about survival, and, so far, he was surviving this trial that had unceremoniously been dumped upon him.

When the song ended and the DJ's prattle began, he turned his attention back to the Braille page before him. He knew that his economic survival might depend upon his becoming fluent in Braille. He was trying. But at times the translation of the tactile information into words, phrases, sentences, and ideas overwhelmed him. Some days, like today, it was frustratingly slow to register. He pushed on, willing his finger over the bumps on the page; willing his brain to make sense of what his finger was telling him.

Auggie had made his way through three more pages when a light knock on his door made him pause in his examination of the word he'd been trying to decipher.

"Come in, it's open," he called over his shoulder as he wondered which one of the trainers had come to find him this time. This week he was supposed to be in a wood shop class. As much as he understood the goals of the classes, he had not so politely declined to participate. Although his father had a very extensive wood shop in the garage of his boyhood home, it was not an activity that he'd joined his father in. He had much preferred to take computers and mechanical things apart to see how they worked. As long as he worked on other skills, he had been allowed out of the shop class.

A light floral scent tickled at his nose. Ah, Marissa, the one person he was in a mood for. "How about blowing this Cracker Jack stand and going for a walk in the great outdoors?"

"It's stopped raining?" he questioned as his right hand felt along the side of the desk for his cane. He was more than willing to leave the confines of his room. His fingertips were getting numb from running across the bumps on the pages he'd been given to read. Braille sure was a lot harder to learn by touch than it had been years earlier when he'd studied it, and other codes, for the Eagle Scout badge. And, his brain was tired of trying to recall what each symbol his index finger detected meant. He had the basic alphabet and punctuation marks down pat, but the contractions of Grade 2 Braille gave him some problems.

"Yeah, the rain stopped sometime in the night and the sun's out. It's a beautiful day."

"Where are we going today?" This wasn't his first foray into the 'real' world, but it had been several days since he'd been out. A few days after his parents had flown back to Illinois, a tropical depression had stalled off the coast of the Carolinas and the weather in the greater DC area had been inclement for the last three days. He had thought of going out onto the grounds later in the day anyway, but a real walk in a real neighborhood was more than welcomed. He'd even welcome a walk along the business district of downtown Reston.

##########

Auggie walked down the narrow sidewalk, cane tapping a steady rhythm before him. He did not yet walk with confidence, but he was no longer the bundle of nerves that he had been the first time he'd been here. It was a quiet residential neighborhood of middle class homes with well-manicured lawns from the information that came to him from all of his senses.

On his left were low brick walls with metal gates, on his right were thick patches of grass between the sidewalk and the curb. He used the walls and the edge of the grass as shorelines, keeping him in the center of the walkway. He had been mildly amused and slightly confused when Marissa had first used the term. The only shoreline that he'd know was the one a few miles from his home where Lake Michigan met the land on its western boundary.

Roses bloomed in a bed to his left and across the street came sounds of hammering from up high—someone getting a new roof he guessed. At the end of this block was the main road into the subdivision.

He stopped and swung his cane to the left side until it struck the wall again. He stepped up to the wall and gingerly swept his arm from side to side. He sidestepped to his left and continued his search. His hand soon brushed against the silky softness of a rose in full bloom. He leaned in and breathed in the heady scent of the rose. "What color is the flower," he asked Marissa as she waited nearby.

"It's a deep red. Almost looks black," she quietly responded. "Behind it is a pale yellow one."

"How many bushes are in this bed? Are they all different colors?"

"Just these two close to the wall. Looks like there might have been a third to your right at some point, but it's gone now."

Auggie sat on the wall. "Mom has a huge flower bed back in Glencoe. She likes roses, too. When I wasn't taking mechanical stuff apart, I liked to help her in her garden when I was younger. Always have liked the scent of roses. I'm glad that I can at least enjoy that about them."

"You can still help your Mom in the garden."

Auggie shrugged, "Yeah, I know. Like everything else, it'll just be different." He chuckled softly. "Is the house across the street getting a new roof?"

"Yeah. Good observation. Now shall we continue?"

"Yeah, I guess we can, slave driver." He smiled broadly as he stood. Centering himself on the sidewalk, he continued the few yards to the end of the block.

When he reached the curb cut at the intersection he paused. He listened intently for anything coming from any direction on the roads: cars, trucks, bicycles, motorcycles, or skateboards. Hearing nothing that sounded like any sort of danger to him, he squared himself to the curb, put his cane in motion and stepped off onto the asphalt roadway.

"Auggie! Stop! Don't take another step!" Marissa yelled in a clearly panicked voice after he'd taken but two steps forward.

He stopped short as he heard the squeal of brakes to his immediate right. He swept his cane before him. It collided in mid-sweep with what could only be the front bumper of a car but a foot in front of him. Next thing he knew he'd raised his cane and smacked it down on the hood of the offending vehicle. The vibration from the hit stung his hand. He quickly adjusted his grip on the cane and shook it in the direction of the driver who had now lowered the window and mumbled a "Sorry."

To which Auggie screamed," See this? It's a freakin' white cane! It means that I'm BLIND and YOU need to pay attention to me, 'cuz I can't exactly pay attention to you."

"Move on, lady," Marissa said tactfully from behind him. "But you really need to pay more attention when you pull in here, especially with as quiet a vehicle as your Prius. Remember the homeowners' association has given us permission to use this neighborhood as a training ground for our newly blinded veterans."

"Sorry, Ma'am. I'll try to pay more attention."

This time Auggie heard the vehicle pull away and moments later Marissa said, "Okay, Auggie, the way is clear now."

"Where the hell did she come from? I didn't hear a thing, or at least not anything I recognized as a definite vehicle coming at me."

"She was going slowly when she pulled around the corner off the main highway. These electric and hybrid cars are going to be hard to hear sometimes," Marissa said comfortingly.

"I probably shouldn't have slammed my cane on her hood, but …"

"It's okay, Auggie." She cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "If I were in your place I might have done the same thing. You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," Auggie said quietly. But he wasn't. The encounter had left him a bit shaken.

He took a deep cleansing breath and continued across the street. Once he'd located the intersecting sidewalks he turned left and continued toward the area where the center's van was parked.

When he judged that he was three-quarters of the way up the block, he cast his cane further into the median strip until it struck a firm metallic object – a fire hydrant. A few more paces and his cane located an opening in the grass. He heard the sound of doors being remotely unlocked and honed in on the sound. He located the van and eagerly searched for the passenger door. He quickly opened the door and settled onto the passenger seat. Only then did he allow his emotions to escape. His hands were shaking as he pulled his folding cane apart and then reached for the door handle to pull the door closed. Shortly he heard the driver's side door open and Marissa settle herself behind the wheel.

"It's okay, Auggie. Whatever you're feeling let it out. You've had a close encounter through no fault of our training or of your own inexperience."

"Scared the crap out of me," he said uncomfortably. "I thought that I'd worked past most of the fear. I don't like the idea of living in fear for the rest of my natural life. Tell me it gets better."

"It can. It's up to you."

"There is so much that I can't see. I'm blind, Marissa. Blind because of some damn terrorist with a vendetta against Americans." He took a few deep breaths in an attempt to keep his anger from escalating.

"I know, Auggie, I know. Life can be so very unfair at times. You've made great strides in the last few weeks. Actually, you're quite a bit ahead of where we thought that you'd be at this point. Some things might not be coming together for you quite the way you'd like, but overall you're doing great. Don't let this unfortunate encounter set you back."

"I'll try not to let it. Just showed me how vulnerable I really am."

"You're stronger than you think. And the skills you're learning will lead to greater self-confidence in your abilities."

"Yeah, okay. I just hope I don't have another experience like today anytime soon."

"I think that when you're out and about you'll find that most people will treat you well. Some may even want to be too helpful. You're going to have to learn how to politely say 'No thank you' so that well-meaning people don't grab you by your elbow and try to steer you somewhere you might not want to go. Remember, if you choose to allow someone to guide you, always take their elbow. Or, when you don't need a guide, tell them that you know where you're going and don't need any assistance, well-meaning or not."

"It's gonna take me a while to not need assistance out in the world."

"Oh, there will be plenty of times in unfamiliar environments where you decide to ask for help in knowing where to go. That's not weakness or lack of confidence - it's really part of taking responsibility for yourself and your safety."

Auggie pondered this for a minute, replied, "Heh, yeah, I wish I could ask all hybrid drivers to add jingle bells to their tires or something." This drew a light giggle from Marissa.

With a smirk, he realized he'd survived another obstacle in his path - literally. Look out, Rocky III, here comes Auggie II. Okay, no, that took corny to another level. He let out a soft chuckle.

Please review after you've read. The ego needs a little stroking this week.