First draft (kinda) Need all the help I can get! Heh. Thanks!
The Balcony
The wind whipped through my hair as I pressed my face against the cold metal of the railing. The night sky was partly concealed by a thick layer of fog, drifting in from the ocean. The breeze, as it whistled past me, was wet with salt-water and freezing cold. I shivered, shifting my weight on bare feet. I turned to my mother, sitting on a beach chair and drinking a Coke. I clambered up onto her lap, pulling her blanket over my shivering legs. There I could see over the top railing of the balcony.
Bang!
I practically jumped off the chair as a firework exploded, sending multi-colored sparks raining down, though they extinguished themselves long before reaching the beach. Seconds later there was another flash of light, accompanied by a loud crack. This one was green, but it changed to pink as it exploded. I jumped off my mother’s lap in excitement, trying to shove my head through the bars once more. It wasn’t working. I stepped up onto the bottom railing, so that my head barely cleared the top. Now I could see over.
“I didn’t think we’d be seeing very many fireworks this year.” My mother stood up and stretched, setting down her drink and coming forward to stand beside me. It was true, since about a week before someone had posted notices all over town, stating that there would be a $1,500 fine for even possessing fireworks. This didn’t seem to have deterred the people on the beach however, for the show was continuing, with the fireworks becoming more and more spectacular. I stepped up onto the second rung of the railing.
“Alyssa, get down from there. It’s not safe.” I turned towards her.
“But I can’t see!”
“You can look through the rungs.”
Pouting, I stepped down. We watched the fireworks for a few more minutes, until my mother got cold and went inside. I was cold two, but I was too excited to sleep, and I most certainly didn’t want to go inside. I waited till she had closed the glass door and then darted back to take a sip of her Coke. She had left it in the cup holder on her chair. I almost spat it right back out when I felt the bubbles. It was pleasantly sweet at first, but by my second sip I started to feel sick, and I gingerly replaced the soda in the cup holder.
After a while the show seemed to die down, with only occasional flashes of light. Once my vision adjusted to the darkness I could see the dunes, with the tall grass waving, the beach, and even some of the water, though the fog obscured most of it. I could hear it too, rushing in and out. I listened for a few minutes, before remembering that I could stand on the balcony now, if I wanted to. I did feel a pang of guilt about disobeying my mother, but how else was I going to see?
A police car with the lights off pulled down the sandy road towards the beach. I could hear my neighbors talking through the cement partitions of the balconies.
“Uh-oh, they’ll get it now.”
“Is Bill still down there?”
“I guess that’s the end of that.”
I watched with curiosity as the squad car stopped on the beach, two officers stepping out onto the sand. As if sensing their impending doom, the people on the beach had stopped firing off their rockets. I stepped onto the third railing. The top railing now ran along my waist, allowing me to look down. The bushes and grass of the perfectly landscaped yard three stories down met my eye. A couple on a late-night stroll with their dog walked pass on the street. I looked back towards the beach. The police car was about to drive away, and the sands were quiet. I sighed, about to turn back inside. There would be no more fireworks tonight. I took one foot off the third railing, about to step down.
BOOM!
The whole ground seemed to shake with the explosion. I heard shouting, confusion. I lost my balance, wind milling my arms around wildly. It sounded like a bomb had gone off on top of the apartment complex. I remember someone screaming as the ground rushed up to meet me. As I hit, the bushes were in my eyes, mouth, my neck, a whirlwind of colors and confusion. I don’t remember hitting my head, but I must have, because everything went dark.
Chapter 1
I don’t remember much of my time in the hospital, except for a vague memory of sounds, excited at first, and then muted, murmuring. I also remember the beeping of equipment, the artificial feeling of the smooth sheets. Strangely, I also remember the sound of the ocean, impossible though that was. I stayed in the hospital for almost a month, recovering from the injury I had received. It was after I got back from the hospital that I learned that I was blind. During my stay, I don’t remember ever trying to open my eyes. In the car on the way home though, I know I did. I remember the shock of not seeing anything. I blinked, trying to make sure I actually had opened my eyes. Nothing. I don’t remember feeling sad or panicked, but rather bewildered, my brain not fully grasping what had happened.
