APPLE : Dear you... who is loved
"Okay... Slowly open your eyes."
My heart is racing. I willingly admit that the fear of disappointment makes me hesitant to follow the doctor's orders. I will be devastated beyond measure if I open my eyes and see nothing but darkness. Consequently, I close my eyes tightly and shake my head. I don't have the courage to do as instructed, so I refuse to do so.
"Chris. If you don't open your eyes, how can you know whether you can see or not? The person who donated those eyes to you would feel bad that they went to waste."
Puth, my only older brother, blackmails me emotionally. I follow his train of thought and come to the conclusion that my fear is much less than my guilt. Hence, I press my lips together tightly, like someone who's made her decision.
That's right... If I don't use what was donated to me, it will go to waste.
"Ah... okay."
As soon as I say that I slowly open my eyes. The brightness of the first light blurs my vision, and I nearly scream. Before this, I only saw blurry colors, not clear images. But now... I can see everything clearly, including everybody's faces, whether it be my father, mother, or older brother. Every one of them is materializing before my eyes.
"Can you see"
My mother holds her breath in anticipation. She asks with tears in her eyes. And as soon as I smile and nod at her, she sobs.
"You can see... You can see again, Chris."
The doctor and my family members screamed with joy. As for myself, I'm so overwhelmed that I embarrassingly laugh and cry at the same time.
It's like I'm given a second chance to live life. And it makes me realize how beautiful this world is.
Thank you... Thank you, the owner of this pair of eyes, for giving me a new life. I will be eternally grateful to that person who is no longer with us.
"What are you doing? Though you can see now, you still have to rest your eyes." My brother Puth, who's five years older than I am, tells me as he pokes his face in to look at my sketch. He raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Whose eyes are you drawing?"
"I have no idea." I reply honestly. I've been dreaming about the eyes I sketched since I got my new eyes two months ago. It's odd that I can't get them out of my head even after I wake up. "It's ingrained into my brain."
"These eyes are beautiful. But is there a face as well? Why just the eyes?"
"I don't know. I can't remember. I can only remember these eyes from my dream."
"That's crazy. There must be a person as well. Don't tell me you just dream of this pair of eyes floating around without a body."
"It's not like that. That's too creepy." I squint at my brother and laugh annoyingly. "I just can't remember anything else. I don't know what I dreamed about. I don't know what I was doing. I just remember these eyes."
"At least you should remember whether it's a man or a woman."
"Yeah... it's strange that I don't."
I bite the pencil at the end with the eraser on it, like I usually do. There are bite marks all over the pencil.
"You've been having these dreams since you got your new eyes?"
"What are you trying to tell me?" I look at my brother curiously. "Are you saying that the dreams are related to my eyes?"
"It's similar to the movie "The Eye that can see ghosts..." Maybe you can see ghosts with this pair of eyes."
"Idiot. This is not something to joke about. Don't scare me." I wave my brother away. "Do you have a lot of time on your hands to be teasing me? Why don't you go to work?"
"Yes, I'm free." Puth glances at me and kicks my shin lightly. "Do you want to work yet?"
"You have work for me?" I immediately sit up straight. I haven't done anything of substance since I got my new eyes. I just hang around at home and let the time pass. So, I think it's time I go out hunting.
Wait... I don't mean killing for food.
Hunting, as in... bringing in the bread. Ah... you know what I mean.
"It's a small project. My friends and I are doing a website about gadgets, e.g., reviewing mobile phones, online games, etc. You get the picture?"
"Ah-huh. And what do you want me to do?"
"You were a video editor? We are looking for someone to edit the clips, so I thought of you. But there's no salary."
"Oh? Why would I do it then?"
"I will let you be our partner. We don't have any money to hire you, but if our company does well, we will look to hire more people. But since you're good at what you do, I thought... you're perfect for the job. We're close, so we can talk openly. No one is better for the job than you."
I laughed in my throat, not believing much in this project. But since I have nothing to do anyway, it wouldn't hurt to help my brother out.
"Whatever you say, it doesn't sound like something difficult. But do you need to edit the clips for a website?"
"Of course. We will have clips, like we're doing a TV show. Ifs very formal. Trust me and my friends. If we're successful, we will be business owners."
"Let it be a success before you brag. But will we do the clips ourselves? I can do the editing, but who will take the video? And who will be the reviewer in the clips?"
"Friends. We don't have the money to hire anyone at first. Let's say you already agreed to do it. I'll keep you updated on the progress."
After I agreed with my brother, I brushed up on my video editing skills by learning about new transitions and new editing programs. The best source of knowledge is YouTube. I must admit that I'm excited about the editing world these days, whether it's the local or international MVs. I feel very outdated...
In the three years that I wasn't able to see, I missed a lot of the beauty this world has to offer...
My eyes are on my monitor, while my ears are listening to the sports news my mother is watching on TV. The male announcer with a deep voice is talking about Thai league soccer as usual. I have no idea why my heart skips a beat whenever the announcer's voice changes to that of a woman.
What's this... Why does my heart suddenly pound?
I shift my eyes from the computer monitor to the TV, tilting my head to the side. The female announcer has a very sweet face. She's beautiful without having to do much. She's announcing the news routinely according to her duty, yet it makes me get up and walk over to the TV monitor. I unconsciously reach my hand out to touch the screen.
Thump Thump...
Thump Thump...
Those eyes. Those eyes are the eyes that I have drawn over and over again these past two months.
This face is the owner of those eyes. Though I can't remember the face in my dream, when I see it, I know she's the one... She's the owner of those eyes I have been drawing. It's this woman.
"Today, I, Aontakam Rakthai, am signing off. Good evening."
The female announcer with a sweet face raises her hand to say good-bye, and the program is cut off without her knowing that there's a person on the other side of the TV monitor who's begging and pleading that she stay on for a bit longer.
Please, at least, let me look into those eyes through the TV monitor... Yet, the female announcer is gone.
"What's the matter, Chris? Why are you staring at the TV like that? The series I want to watch will be on soon. Please don't block my view."
I don't reply to my mother. I just get out of her way with my hand on my left chest because I'm afraid that my heart will pop out of my chest. Suddenly, tears flow down my cheeks, and I have to wipe them off. I don't even understand why I have these reactions
because of that woman on TV...
Aontakarn.