Into Darkness

Only one thought entered her mind as she lolled in her bed, trying to ignore the noise outside her window. “That f**king rooster must be blind! Doesn’t he know it’s the middle of the night? Can’t he tell the sun isn’t up yet?” In that moment, she wanted nothing more than for the fowl to wander into the street and get hit by a truck. She sighed and rolled over, pulling her pale blue down blanket up over her head and trying in vain to go back to sleep. Her bed was just right… warm, but not too warm, soft but still supportive of her curves in all the right ways. She was NOT READY to sacrifice her comfort yet. She was a busy woman with a career to think about. In a few short hours, she had to catch two trains all the way downtown to the courthouse, and she needed rest desperately. The case in the city wasn’t going to argue itself. She needed her mind sharp and her body rested if she was going to have any hope of helping that family stay in their apartment. It was a long ride, but some cases she just couldn’t turn away, no matter the commute. Injustice was not something she would tolerate any longer. The thought of helping the family with their deadbeat landlord calmed her down. That landlord wasn’t going to get away with being a slumlord and she knew it.

She finally began to drift off to sleep when she heard the alarm clock blaring it’s piercing call to action. “NO WAY. It can’t be time already! It’s still dark out.” She swore the universe was out to get her. After a sleepless night and that damn rooster who didn’t know when to shut up, her head was spinning and aching. She felt like someone was pushing on her eyes from the inside. As she lay in bed, the dull ache slowly grew more sharp. It was going to be one of those days. Giving in to the alarm clock’s blatant disregard for her beauty rest, she rolled toward it and slowly opened her eyes.

Darkness met her gaze. What was this? “This has to be a dream,” she thought. “It’s still night time. I must be having another nightmare.” She was prone to night terrors and migraines, but she had never experienced anything like this before. It had to be a dream, though. What else could explain the utter blackness she saw before her eyes? Bewildered, she stretched and rubbed her eyes again, only to realize when she opened them a second time that she was, in fact, wide awake 

…and completely blind.

“Okay, don’t freak out,” she told herself. She found that in stressful situations like this, it was important to, above all, NOT FREAK OUT. Sometimes, with migraines, people experience temporary loss of sight, right? This must be what she was experiencing. Everything would be just fine once she took her migraine medicine. Her calm, reasonable lawyer nature told her this was nothing to worry about but the feeling of nausea in her gut told a different story. Her stomach tightened and turned, and she thought she might be sick. She searched in darkness for the source of the alarm, now piercing her eardrums as the anxiety in her grew. “What the hell is happening? Can this be real? Okay, FOCUS. Find the noise and turn it off. One thing at a time.” She stumbled out of bed, tripping over the slippers she had kept on the floor for years, and walked directly into the dresser, jamming her toe on the corner. As the searing pain radiated up her calf, she instinctively looked down to see if she was bleeding. She still saw nothing but darkness. She reached down to feel her toe, and hit her head on the ornate cast iron handle of the dresser drawer. Panic and pain rose in her as she knocked over the deodorant, groped the jewelry box, the lamp, and finally, the alarm clock. She didn’t know if she was more afraid or frustrated, but at last, she had the clock. Now, where was the switch to turn off that dreadful sound? She knew, but couldn’t remember. With fingers fumbling, feeling her way over every inch, she tried to paint a picture of the clock in her head. Finally, she found the switch and silenced the alarm.

She had to figure out what was going on. There had to be an explanation. She was sure that there was a simple fix to this ordeal. She must have had too much to drink last night. No wait, she didn’t have anything to drink last night. Maybe she was just sick. Maybe this was a virus. Of course she would be fine once she could talk her way out of it. She was an excellent attorney. She could reason her way out of any situation, and this one was sure to have a quick resolution. Of course this was temporary. “Oh my God, what if this isn’t temporary?” 

Terror filled her mind as she stumbled and floundered in the inky void she once knew as her bedroom. Things that were once familiar were now foreign. The simple act of walking from her bed to the dresser was now an insurmountable task. Her stomach turned as all the thoughts began rushing in… How was she going to find her way to her phone? How was she going to dial for help? She struggled to keep her composure. How would she continue in her career? How could she go on if this was permanent? How would she even do the most basic of tasks without help? She was an independent woman who never needed anyone. Now she was walking into things and can’t find the way to the toilet. Everything that once seemed so simple was suddenly complicated, and the hopelessness of the situation soon took root in her psyche. Collapsing on the floor in a weeping heap, she went numb. Nothing would ever be simple again.