Vision- Chapter One: An Old Maid

So this is the first chapter of this great idea I have. Later on, it will take on a fantasy genre type twist, but currently, it contains nothing of the fantastic. Therefore, I've placed it in General fic. Do with it as you will. The novel title (Vision) is only temporary. So far, I've not had any great titles come to me.

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Chapter One: An Old Maid

From the moment I was born into the world, there was something wrong with me. I did not cry when the harsh bright light pierced my dark eyes. I was silent. Too silent.

My mother did not notice my quietness. She had, in fact, had a tiring labour and promptly fainted within seconds of my birth. Her midwife and best friend, Amice, dared not disturb my mother to tell her that her second daughter was so far proving to be an odd child.

My condition was not diagnosed until the age of one when I attempted walking. When my mother or older sister, Jocosa, would smile and wave at me, it seemed that I couldn't view them. Finally, after much consideration, Jocosa, my mother and I visited the physician's. He examined me and finally told my small family the cause: I was blind and had been since the day I came into the world.

Jocosa told me that Mother cried for days on end, like any mother would when she found out her second daughter was blind. But, I knew, it was more than that. Jocosa had grown up to be a rough-looking girl with a protrudant chin dappled with red blemishes and small eyes the colour of pig slop. She was quite rotund simply because she spent most of her days sitting and sewing, obviously exercising little. Perhaps my mother had been hoping I was to be the beauty of the family, marrying and birthing children. But suddenly my mother's dream came to an abrupt end. Nobody would want to marry a blind girl. I was eternally handicapped.

I grew up depending heavily on my sense of smell, touch and taste. By the age of seven, I could create a mental image of someone merely by smell, though Jocosa, Mother or Amice would describe the person as well.

I often wondered what my physical appearance was. Of course, I knew things like how tall I was, the length of my hair, the shape of my body. But I naturally wondered about the colour that my hair was or how my eyes looked. Jocosa was good with words and soon became the one to describe everything for me in great detail. I learned that my eyes were a dark chocolate brown with little specks of lighter brown. My hair was long--that I knew-- and blond, streaked with browns. I imagined myself, thinking that if I weren't blind, I'd be very desirable among the men of our village. But, alas, I was regarded as handicapped and already known as the resident 'Old Maid'.

I did little throughout the day, because of my blindness. Jocosa now had the burden of most of the household chores because I couldn't see and Mother watched me closely so I didn't injure myself when walking about. Amice visited as much as she could, but with two eight year old twin boys, Crispin and Col, and a working husband, she had to spend most of her time at her home.

I learned quickly to make my way around the house with only a few bumps into things. Nothing could ever be rearranged or else I'd possibly break something. The older I got, the more visitors I'd recieve because I became wiser with my disability. Soon, I had visitors almost every day, but they were mostly Amice, Crispin and Col. I lacked in a female friend other than my sister, Jocosa.

When I reached the age of fifteen, many changes came with. Now, with my expanded senses, Jocosa and Amice convinced Mother to allow me outside with a companion. Many times, Crispin accompanied me and that was where I met Rohese.

Rohese smelled of fresh lilacs even though I could feel she wore the rough clothes of a peasant. I was curious how she had acquired such a sweet smell being only a lowly peasant like myself.

"How have you such a sweet scent?" I asked, stumbling over to her.

"I work often in the gardens, Blind Girl," she replied. I could tell by her tone that she was smiling. I felt her head move to glance ove my shoulder at Crispin. "Is this your man?"

I laughed quietly. "No, Crispin is a good family friend. He watches out for me when I go outside of the house."

"How kind of him!" I sensed the girl turn her head back toward me. "I'm Rohese, worker in the fields."

"What a beautiful name!" I exclaimed. "You may address me as Cecily." I smiled shyly.

From then on, I had a new friend. Rohese visited often and she came to learn how to converse with me and also that I wasn't completely at loss in communication. I explained many times that I could sense movements and hear just as well as I could taste food. It was only my sight that was handicapped.

I loved it when my lilac-smelling friend came over. She would recount stories that her brother had told her. Her brother, Cain, was a traveller and had gone all the way to France. Rohese would fill me in on the latest vilalge gossip and I learned that I was much talked about with sympathy. This pleased me greatly that I wasn't only though of as the Old Maid Cecily. Rohese showed me the world with her words.