no reference for anything much. I was in joy. I felt like I’d stepped into another world, one with another dimension. I was in joyful shock! I thought I’d been fine as I was, and I had been, but this was … indescribable. If you’ve never seen colour before, let me tell you, it floors you. ‘Mind-blowing’ hardly touches the sides. I cried and laughed and whooped. No-one even asked why. Maybe it’s that sort of place. Maybe they were used to it. I wasn’t. It was dark when I walked home. I got lost twice. Seeing where I was walking completely confused me. In the end, I shut my eyes and found our house the way I was used to. I knocked and went in. I saw my mum and dad for the first time ever. I saw tears for the first time ever. I didn’t even spare Jesus a thought. The new light in my world blinded me to anything other than my new normal. Over the next days, mum and dad slowly walked me through understanding what all the things I had never seen actually were. They walked with me and gave names – familiar names – to things I had only ever imagined. I spent a lot of time laughing, especially about things that I had imagined so differently to what they really looked like. Trees stunned me. If you’re used to them, take another look. Incredible. And skin. Skin is bizarre. But eyes … they’re the most amazing thing of all. Mine hadn’t worked and I’d never seen anyone else’s, but eyes are insanely beautiful. And what they can do! What they can do. I saw my face reflected in water and in shining metal. My face. My eyes. It was dad who finally said I needed to go back to work. We needed my income. So, four days after it happened, I went back to my chairs. I walked into the Pharmacy and said hello to the staff. I only knew who each person was when they spoke. It didn’t go well. Moira asked who I was. “It’s me. Darren! From outside,” I said. 77
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