Why can't it always be like this? I was always so busy. I always had such a full schedule and it seemed boring and quite aggravating after a while. Being cooped up in that large lonely house made me so restless. I frequently found myself wondering if anything exciting would ever happen to me; just once.
It was pitiful that me being out here, on my own, seemed like such an adventure. All the same it was still amazing. Although I wasn't miles away, as I had imagined myself, it still seemed so.
"La, la, la, laaaaaa…." I sang out into the air. It was not exactly an acceptable note, far from it actually, what with the cold air cracking my voice. Not only that, but my voice, I knew, was less than reasonable when it came to singing. I was constantly reminded of that, from anyone within hearing distance. The note remained in the air, a while after I sang it, like it flew up with the wind over the trees.
Now, it was time to think about Beth. She was always the more, exciting, one of both of us, I knew. Even her brother and sisters (of which she had many) could not compete with her excitable and charming air all together. The way she held herself, the way she talked. Why, I couldn't help but being slightly jealous. Even so, I still loved her like a sister (not that she needed another.) My memory wandered back to the day we first met.
As I recall, she was sitting outside the gate, her little dress over her knees as she crouched down on the grass and played with her doll. I, naturally curious, went up to the towering fence and put my head through the bars.
"What are you doing?" I asked her, peering over her shoulder for a better clue.
"I'm just playing with my doll. Mama made me a new doll today." She replied, still not turning around, or looking up.
"Oh." I said, and stood there for a bit without saying anything; just watching. "Are you having fun?" I asked eagerly.
"Why yes, lots of fun," she replied again, but still ceased to move from what she was doing.
Finally, I just went straight out and asked, "Would you mind if I joined?" and then added, "I can bring out some of my own dolls."
At this she looked up, dark, ebony hair whirled around to face me. That was the first time I'd seen her. Her black hair in contrast with her olive skin, made her look paler then she really was. Her eyes were two different colors, one blue one green. I noticed something else about her eyes. She was never looking directly at me. As a child, at the time I had not realized until a moment of thought, that she was blind.
She holds a long stick to feel her way, though she only uses it when I'm not around to guide her with my voice. She trusts me and it's a nice feeling, for both of us I expect; to be trusted.
But since then we've been inseparable. She, with her disability, seems to be like any other human being, those with the advantage of sight. She runs around and is capable of doing practically anything I can. You see, she puts her other senses to use; hearing, feeling, even smelling in certain cases to move her way around. She tells me she can feel the vibrations of any given object or living thing, and by the way she moves around, I can't help but believe her.
'Such pleasant memories,' I thought as I made my way back to the present. I'm sitting in the tree again and I swing my leg back and forth pondering on whether I should return home. Do I even want to return? 'No.' Still, I knew I probably should. They'll be wondering where I am.
Sighing, I began, carefully, to retreat back down, placing my foot firmly on a branch below me, testing its strength before I even dare to move my whole body onto it. Gradually, I make my way down much slower than I had climbed up. Eventually, I got the hang of finding my footing, from brand to branch. 'I'm getting used to this,' I thought cheerfully.
Just as I thought this I planted my foot down on another branch with more confidence and less caution. Too my dismay, I felt it crack under my weight. I looked up for a branch to hold onto but my hands wouldn't grip fast enough. 'Great Raina, just great.' I scolded myself. Then I found myself falling. 'This is going to hurt.' I was up high enough still that the fall might cause to be very harmful. So I just closed my eyes, foolishly, too afraid to even watch.
I was going to land on my back, I knew, so I tried to maneuver through the air to and turn myself around. In my attempt my head hit a branch, hard. I was barely conscious when I landed; feeling my spine stiffen as though it just might've prevented some of the potential damage. The strange thing about my land though, was it didn't feel like the ground…it felt like….but no, probably not. To confirm my suspicions I heard a deep voice whisper in my ears.
"It's going to be alright, Raina."