"It's called Braille." Mother said, pulling my hand and placing it over a sheet of paper with many tiny bumps on it.
"What's Braille?" I asked, suddenly curious. I guess this is what Mother meant by something special.
Mother laughed softly, and said,"It's a writing style that blind people can use to read and write."
I felt like screaming, screaming in joy, screaming in anger that she never showed me this before. My life had practically changed in two minutes!
Mother guided my hand over a long line of bumps, while saying,"This says: The cat yawned and took a nap once again."
How did Mother know that? Did she study this mysterious Braille thing she was explaining to me now? Maybe it had words above it, so she could read it. Maybe.
I ran my finger along the bumps several times, in silence. Mother was probably just watching me study them, and I was feeling every different side and angle of the weird bumps. Finally, I said,"Mother, will I learn to read Braille? Will I get to be able to write? Will the textbooks at school be available in—"
My mother shushed me before I got to finish asking my third question. I thought it was quite rude, especially since she had been hiding this miracle from me for my whole life.
"You'll learn it over the summer and more at school. Yes, the textbooks will be given to you in Braille," Mother replied swiftly and casually. At least she answered my questions. Not my second, though. I decided to ask again.
"Will I be able to write?"
There was a pause and I counted the seconds of silence. 1, 2, 3, 4... When I got to 8, Mother answered.
"Perhaps. It is a little hard to, though."
I sighed softly. I'd always wanted to write. Sheila writes letters to Grandma and Grandpa and our cousins. I wish I could do that. Maybe I can, though, in Braille.
"Want to talk about school? Or work on your math?" Mother asked me.
I thought for a moment. I didn't like math. It was hard being blind and all. But I really didn't feel like talking about school. No way.
"Math," I said quietly, then I waited for Mother to put away the Braille sheet. I heard the shuffling of papers, and I waited as patiently as possible. It wasn't that hard, when you're expecting to do math.
Mother started explaining how I can do mental math. It was multiplication, but I wasn't paying attention. I was thinking of all the things Braille can do to me, how it can change me forever.
End of chapter
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138,330 Literary Works • 672,104 Reviews
Hi there!
Sorry it took me a while to get back to reviewing your novel. But I'm here now and I will read through the rest of the chapters you've posted
I absolutely love this part. There is so much raw emotion in here that I can't get over it. I know I've been on you for a while about using different emotions and descriptions because mber is blind. This is what I've been talking about. Take advantage of her lack of sight and really dive deep into so many other emotions and senses.
I like this chapter. I'm so happy to see you keep developing Ember. It's always important to continue developing your characters over a novel, but it's super important when you are writing in first person POV. We learn more about her in each chapter. Here we share in her excitement of being able to read thanks to Braille. She's so excited that she doesn't want to talk about anything else.
Like I've been saying all along, it's real interesting reading this from a different perspective. I'm blessed to have sight, as a majority of us on Earth are. So reading a story from the perspective of a blind person is quite entertaining to me; in a good way of course. Keep up the good work!
I hope we find out what's up with Sheila! I want to think it was just a late night and she didn't get up in time to wake up Ember. I hope we see that more in a later chapter.
Keep writing!
**Noelle**
ok im here now Willow! sorry it took so long for me to do this review but I honestly forgot I still had to XD anyways ON TO THE REVIEW
) no use of slang words!
Spelling: AMAZING! nothing wrong!
Grammar: (I finally learned how to spell 'grammar'
Suspence: right there in the last paragraph when Ember thought, 'and how it could change my life forever' I thought that right there brought in a touch of suspence!
Rating: as usual, 5 stars and 10 out of 10!
Well done again, Willow! and with nothing wrong ur a problem to reviewers who like to nitpick! XD
~puppys3117~
Thanks!
How rude of you! You didn't tell us if anything happened to Sheila! So much suspense, it hurts. D:<
I look forward to seeing how this will affect Ember as the story goes on. It makes me sad that she will never be able to see drawings, but at least she will be able to read books! The reaction she gave was truly awesome. I love how excited and hopeful she is now.
Anyways, how did I never think of braille?! It honestly never passed my mind until now. I'm happy you finally brought it in.
I'm curious to know - have you seen The Mask? It's the movie with Cher, about a boy with a disfiguration. He meets a blind girl and helps show her colors and such by using things for her to feel. Like for example, grass to signify green, or something hot for red. It's hard to do in writing, but I think that maybe you can do it. Give it a try. It's worth a shot, and I think that it will help your imagery grow stronger.
Off to read chapter seven!
Maybe I should add more about Sheila in. :3
That movie sounds super cool. I could try that... Hmm. Interesting.
Hi,
I have recently found your story, and decided to review it. Here we go...
The commas should be spaced out.
All-in-all, this is a lovely story. And I can't wait till the next chapter!
I would give this a 8 out of 10.
Raven,
Thanks for reviewing!
Wow, Willow, you are so great! I didn't even THINK about Braille being the special thing! I just love what you did, you are great at keeping the reader on their toes with surprises hidden in the text!
I noticed that one time you used the wrong "to." And you squeezed at least into atleast again. But that's okay. GREAT JOB, those were the only mistakes I saw!
Sorry this is a short review, but since I loved everything about the chapter, I didn't want to mention everything and make this too long! Great job, WillowPaw1!
Thanks! Ugh! I always do thatttt. Let me go edit that.
You're welcome. Always glad to help!
wow! this is getting better and better! great job! (i'll be back later to do a review)
Can't wait to get the review!