I was finally coming to terms with my
sight. It wasn't something that most people have to adjust to. My
peripheral vision wasn't narrowing to a dark tunnel. It wasn't
getting more difficult to read signs at a distance or books up close.
I had to adjust to the fact that I could see everything.
When I say everything, it is much more
than simply a matter of my vision being 20/20. At any given moment I
could focus my view on a section of wall and see every nail pinning
the drywall to the stud, how much the wood compressed and how much of
it splintered when the nail was driven in, each stroke of the sander
smoothing out the mud in the panel joints. I could easily see all of
this regardless of whether the subsequent construction had been
covered with paint, wallpaper, or both.
More than that, I could lay back and
let my point of view roam anywhere in the world. I could see
diplomats speaking to each other in a secured conference room on the
other side of the planet. Since I couldn't hear them and never
bothered to learn to read lips, all of the state secrets they may be
passing to each other were still safe.
All of this started with an attack. I
was working my usual evening shift at a corner convenience store. An
armed thug rammed thug sauntered through the door, pulled a gun, and
shot me in the head. As I lay on the ground bleeding, he rummaged
through the cash drawers and helped himself. He walked away with
just under $500. Not worth the life he just intended to take if you
ask me. Even with the security cameras at the front door, behind the
counter, and in the parking lot outside, the police were unable to
identify the guy. Since I had seen his face very clearly, I told
them I would gladly point him out in a lineup if they needed me to.
They never called me in.
However, his shot wasn't lethally
accurate. The bullet just grazed my skull. Somehow the pressure
wave in the fluid inside my skull caused something to change in my
brain itself. At least that's what the doctors keep telling me each
time they call me in to take more pictures of my head. They don't
know what kind of effects the difference in my brain chemistry may
have, but that's only because I haven't told then about my new
planet-wide visual acuity.
Doctor's orders kept me out of work the
next couple of weeks. My boss said he would hold my position for me
as long as I didn't sue the store. He smiled and sounded like he was
joking, but I kind of doubt that. By the time I clocked back in for
another evening shift, I was already aware I could see considerably
more than I had before. With a little practice during slow parts of
my shift, my vision was improving by leaps and bounds. After my
first week I could count not only the cash in the drawer without
opening it, but see exactly how much was in each shift's drop
envelopes as they sat inside the safe in the boss's office.
The first time I noticed how much more
I could see it was more out of boredom than anything else. I was
sitting on my couch watching television. A movie was on that took
place in the Sahara desert. Seeing all that sand blowing around and
the shimmering heat was making me a little thirsty. I looked in the
general direction of my kitchen and wondered if I had any beers in my
fridge. Instantly I could see inside the refrigerator as though the
door and wall between it and me were made of clear glass. All of the
contents were clearly visible to me. It came as such a surprise that
I blinked a couple times and the view disappeared. I sat and stared
at the wall for a minute, thinking the whole thing must have been a
hallucination caused by being shot.
I looked at the wall between me and my
bedroom and again thought about the contents of my fridge. Nothing
happened this time. Since I was looking at my bedroom wall my mind
wandered to what clean clothes I might have to wear the next day.
Suddenly I could see all of the folded shirts and pants in my dresser
drawers. I noticed a couple of shirts I knew I had left in the
hamper were sitting in my drawer. I realized this couldn't be a
hallucination since I had no way of knowing my sister had washed my
clothes and put them away while I was in the hospital. I'm not sure
why I didn't start to panic. I began to look through other walls in
my apartment. I could see how much soap was left in the bottle in my
bathroom, this despite three walls and the plastic of the bottle
itself potentially blocking my view.
I started to experiment with how far I
could see. I peeked into other apartments on the same floor as mine.
Then into rooms in apartments one and two floors beneath my feet. I
kept extending my view further and further. Reading the expiration
dates on the labels of food in the store on the corner. Counting the
seeds in the vegetables on display at the farmer's market down the
street. I will admit I spent too much time peering into the women's
locker room at the gym a couple blocks down while sitting alone in
the living room of my apartment. There seemed to be no limit to how
far my vision could reach or how detailed a view I could get.
This new ability was a source of fun
for the most part. I could watch any NFL game I wanted without my
television being on or traveling to a stadium. I could watch a movie
being made anywhere in the world. Women's locker rooms weren't the
only places I looked at ladies in various states of undress. In
general, whatever I wanted to see, I just looked at.
The fun stopped a few months after I
got back to work. Once again, an armed thug entered the convenience
store. This time he was wearing a ski mask despite the heat of the
August evening. Without even thinking about it, I glanced at his
waistband behind his back. There was a gun behind his back, loaded
with the safety off and a round chambered. A quick look behind the
ski mask told me how much danger I was truly in. The face hiding
behind the cotton was the same one that belonged to the man that had
shot me once before. There was no way I could give him the chance to
kill me or hurt anyone else again.
What are some of the things you would look at if you could focus your sight on anything? What would you look at first?
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