The events of yesterday crept up on us as swiftly as the winter dropped the dark shade of night and we realized we weren't prepared to adopt a child. Mother and I left the house with Dodger to shop for clothes. We stopped at multiple shelters ran by the church, where donations for the poor were collected. They usually had piles of clothes to sift through. Rather quickly, I found him a turquoise shirt with cotton breeches and socks and went to dress him in an isolated room as the winter cold was not suitable for a naked baby. We picked out a few necessary clothing items for him without taking more than we needed and headed back home. Daniel was waiting for us, reading the paper in his chair.
We dropped the clothes on the couch and sorted through them placing the shirts in one pile, jackets in another, so on so forth. Daniel paper crinkled as his curious eye focused on Dodger. Daniel straightened it out, read maybe one line, then crinkled the paper out of his way with his nose scrunched.
"What's wrong with him?" Daniel asked, piquing my curiosity. I watched Dodger's movements. He sat with his little chin in the air, taking in his new home. He awkwardly grabbed at the ground while his eyes were focused elsewhere.
What was he grabbing at? The space in front of him was clear.
Dodger's body appeared strong enough to hold his own weight. Earlier in the day, Mother and I had encouraged him to walk. He could stand strong but wouldn't take a step. Instead, he liked to lean on the ground and crawl.
Thinking back, Dodger didn't go anywhere even though he could. He wasn't curious and he didn't wander like most kids. He had a tendency to guide himself with his hands wherever he went as if he was feeling his way around.
I wondered.
I approached Dodger, bending down to his level and looking at his eyes. Where black pupils and colorful irises were supposed to be, there was nothing but two opaque films covering them. I'd been so in love at the thought of having my own child and been so busy trying to prepare for him that I'd completely missed the problem with his eyes.
"He's blind." I directed my statement to my husband, but received no immediate reply.
"We adopted him from a leper, Mae," he answered after a moment. "What did you expect?"
What in the world was I supposed to do with a blind child? How would I teach him to read and to write? It was something that needed to be addressed.
"I'm taking him to the doctor tomorrow." Most of my day had been spent on finding him clothes that I hadn't thought to take him to the doctor until now.
My stomach was a mess of knots. We had to see our family doctor tomorrow not only to figure out the source of Dodger's blindness, but hopefully to figure out his nationality was as well. Without the help of distinguished eyes, it was harder for me to tell. There were many different beings on Chara and I was anxious to know what he was.
~~
Doctor Ingram, our family doctor, lived a block down the street in a two-story town house that served as both his office and his home. Seated at the small counter was a young woman who smiled the moment we entered. "Hello, Mrs. Ember. Allow me to get my father for you," the young lady said. I replied with a thank you and took a seat. Dodger, quiet as a church mouse, curled his arms around his stomach and placed his head on my shoulder. The small moment put a smile on my face. I'm finally a mother.
Eventually, Doctor Ingram greeted us and led us into the examination room. I sat Dodger down on the white bed and waited as the doctor examined him.
"He's not blind," Doctor Ingram stated after several tense minutes. "Well, not completely anyway."
"I don't understand." I shook my head with confusion. The doctor, sitting across from me, turned from Dodger to face me.
"Dodger has cataracts. He can still see, but barely. Imagine that you're looking through a frosted glass. He likely can make out shapes and shadows, but actual details are impossible." Dodger's head tilted ever so slightly in Doctor Ingram's direction and his expression was solemn. It's painfully obvious that he was struggling to understand his surroundings.
"How bad is it?" I braced myself for bad news.
"It's hard to tell right now. His cataracts are probably congenital. Fortunately, he's young. Giving him potions before we perform surgery will eventually get rid of the cataracts and his vision will be restored."
"Will the surgery hurt?" I leapt from my seat as Dodger rolled in the bed. I picked him up and settled back into my chair. Dodger nestled in my bosom.
"With the right potions and my practice in alchemy, he won't feel a thing."
My thoughts went straight to the expenses. A pretty penny would be needed, a pretty penny that'd require many years of hard work to own.
"What are the consequences if we decided to skip surgery?" I crossed my fingers and prayed to the goddess of mercy that she'd listen to my cause, finding a way to help us.
"Very rarely do cataracts heal themselves, but it's not worth waiting. Follow me." He stood up and led us to the drawing room. He rummaged through several potion bottles in a three-shelf cabinet before coming out with a pear-shaped bottle. Inside was a pale blue potion.
"Put one drop of this in each eye every day. If his eyes haven't healed in a week, then we'll do surgery. This potion will also prepare him for any complications that may happen. It'll increase the chance for a full recovery." Doctor Ingram handed me the glass vile. It was cold to the touch as the blue liquid swished back and forth. I fumbled to place the vile in my small sack and pulled out a gold coin. The doctor waved his hand in protest.
"It's not worth that much! One silver coin will suffice." Pre-surgery potions were never worth less than a gold coin.
"I highly doubt it's worth that little!"
"You're a faithful patient. Your family has been supporting my clinic longer than you've been alive," he insisted. I grasped the gold coin tightly and gave the doctor a look of great appreciation.
"Thank you." I returned the gold coin and fished out a silver one. Before I left, I made sure to set an appointment for the following week. I began to step out when I made another realization.
"Dr. Ingram!"
"What is it?"
"What is he?"
"Dodger?" He said as his finger pointed at him. I nodded but the answer I was looking for is more complicated than I had hoped.
"I don't know. If his cataracts weren't in the way I could make better assumptions. He could be anything." This wasn't the answer I was hoping for.
"I see. I hope you have a good day."
"Same to you, Miss Ember."
~~
I obeyed the doctor's orders: one drop in each eye daily. I reserved a couple minutes each morning to fight with Dodger. With my dominate arm wrapped around his forehead, he wiggled violently. His arms flailed everywhere, hitting me in the face and knocking the vile from my hand repeatedly. He was determined to escape.
Naturally, this attempt wasn't working.
"He's disobeying, he needs to be disciplined." Daniel said.
"He doesn't need discipline. He's not doing anything wrong. I just need to show him that taking eyedrops won't hurt."
"Good luck showing that to a blind child." My heart wanted to take that personally. Instead I took it as advice. Showing to a blind child is absolutely impossible.
"Dodger, it's ok. These won't hurt." I took his hand in mine and squeezed a few drops on his skin. "They're warm, and they'll help you see better."
Dodger took a moment to feel the droplets against his hand.
"I'm going to put one on your nose. Boop!"
Dodger pulled back in alarm then smiled as the water trickled down his nose. Another droplet on his cheek and Dodger giggled with me. A droplet plopped onto his cheekbone, closer to his eye. He tensed again, then relaxed.
"I'm going to lean you back." I waited for a response, I received nothing in return. Lowering my arm I felt the muscles in his neck tense. I hummed a lullaby too soothe him.
"I'm going to put a little water, right here," my finger tapped the bridge of his nose then gently slid it into the tear duct. He tensed again, a cue for me to move my finger back to the bridge of his nose, making silly booping noises. Repeating the movement gained Dodgers trust and he became comfortable again. "Here comes the water."
The droplet trickled off his nose and into his tear duct. Dodger jolted upward, but didn't panic.
"Blink." I gently tapped his cheek below his eye and he blinked in unison to my soft touch. I repeated my process, then focused on the other eye.
"All done!" I said. I wanted to send Daniel a smug look but resisted since it wouldn't do any good.
The next morning, Dodger and I tried again with the eyedrops. His fear of them was overcome with little coaxing and the soothing effects of warm milk. He acted like an angel as the eyedrops were applied to each eye.
Afterward, he remained still in my lap, staring up at the ceiling with cursed eyes not being able to see what's in front of his face. I stared into the darkness of Dodgers eyes and got lost for a moment. Glimmers of pale blue and splatters of white that looked like shards of glass stared blankly back at me. The beauty in his eyes was undeniable and hypnotizing.
"Mae! You're burning daylight!" Mother cried from the kitchen. I placed Dodger on the floor, and ran for the bedroom to dress appropriately for winter. By the time I returned my hands were full with Dodgers shoes, socks, and a coat.
"Are you certain you want to take Dodger shopping with you?" Mother poked her head out of the kitchen.
I nodded with a smile.
"I want him to hear the wind chimes that hang in the marketplace."
"Trudging a baby around all day gets wearisome."
"I appreciate your concern mother, but I can carry him."
"He doesn't walk." She reminded.
"I know, mother! Taking him outside will help encourage it." I said and mother returned to the kitchen.
"I'm going to put your shoes on." I said to Dodger. "This is your left foot." I wiggled his toes on his left foot then slipped his shoes on repeated it with his right foot. I wrapped him in a jacket then picked him up.
"Let's say goodbye to grandma!" Passing the kitchen, I lifted Dodgers hand and waved for him.
"Goodbye, my sweethearts." Grandma grabbed Dodgers hand and shook it as if she was demonstrating how she waved. "Be safe!"
"Naturally."
The door clicked shut behind us and we made our way to the market.
Entering the street outside my apartment I never bothered to find the sky. Underwear dangled where clouds were supposed to be, clipped onto twine that stretched between buildings. I lowered my eyes to the ground as my cheeks grew hot. I felt embarrassed that anyone would bravely flaunt something so intimate. On laundry day we splay our clothes over the furniture. I'd rather sit on the floor then publicly display my underwear.
I pushed through the crowd, onto the busy street to be shoved by the rushing people. They didn't even look up with the slightest hint of remorse in their eyes, too busy to bother with human decency. I kept my eyes to the mud that the city classified as a street. One wrong look and unwanted attention will be grabbing my behind and making kissy noises in my direction. I would hope that having a baby would be a repellant for catcalling but I've seen mothers cradling their innocent babies and they're still targeted. Instead, I covered Dodger in my shawl and kept him close to my bosom.
I carefully steered through the streets, avoiding anyone that ogled. Maneuvering around the crowd and hiding behind larger people, following at their heals to hide from perverts is an art I seemed to master.
The streets quickly opened to the marketplace revealing the beautiful blue sky that I so desperately needed to see. The cold air filled my lungs with life again, the absence of piss in the air definitely helps rejuvenate myself.
Surrounding a large circular, courtyard made of white stone were tents set up to create rows for people to peruse around. The closest tent displayed beads that shone like the stars and some were so black it appeared as a hole in space dangling on silver chains. The owner jingleld as she extended her arms to showcase the beauty on the wearer, she was highly decorated in thousands of glass beads. A large man, I'm assuming was her husband puffed out his chest as vines wrapped around his neck as jewelry. I wouldn't be surprised if Lady Deinan owned this luxury.
We passed many tents that showcased items that curled in odd sculptures and splayed patterns for sewing materials across beams and poles. We stopped at long tent with twenty or so wooden boxes neatly displaying colors of the rainbow. The woman running the booth smiled widely as I approached, acknowledging my existence then waved to Dodger.
"What's the matter? Is he shy?" Her lip dropped, pretending to be upset when Dodger didn't wave back.
"No, he's blind."
"Oh, poor baby." She gently rubbed his cheek with the tip of her finger.
"I wanted him to try my favorite fruit." I said with a wide smile.
"Feel free to sample my wares." She lead me closer with wide, welcoming arms.
I was instantly drawn by a plump strawberry that glistened.
"This is a strawberry!" I plucked from the bushel then handed it to Dodger. Before trusting it, he traced the outline and felt the seeds that burrowed in the fruit. He took it and placed it to his lips but never ate it. "Eat it."
He paused, then took a small bite.
"Yum!" I responded as Dodgers face scrunched into confusion. Another bite and Dodger hummed with satisfaction. The outcome of Dodgers pudgy face was pleasing. I surrendered three copper coins for a small handful of strawberries. I would give up my entire coin purse just to keep that look of satisfaction on his face.
Amidst the courtyard was a snowy flat with a large tree in the middle. Windchimes gleamed gold, shined silver, and had hundreds of different textures and colors dangled from the trees thick branches. I sat down with my legs crossed and gently set Dodger on my lap. Wanting to relate to Dodger I closed my eyes and focused on my hearing. His furry brown hair brushed against me as his ears followed the wind. It swished past us and rustled the chimes. I attempted to match the sound to the type of chime. A jingle, soft tiny sounds rattled together I could only assume they must come from delicate metal such as silver. Another woosh, Dodgers ears refocused on another sound and I had moved my head with his. A deeper, gloomy bong rang with the wind. That sound could belong to either wooden chimes or old rusted ones. The sound of music flowed with the rush of the wind.
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