Beyond: Sight

Why, hello again friends. I knew you would return. This is a place to escape, you see, your reality. Speaking of escape. I noticed that many people wear these bent boomerangs constructed with the material of metal or plastic and those circular or rectangular windows on their faces. Ah! That’s right! Glasses! They are very helpful in helping you see up close and far away. However, for this young woman, it does a lot more.

It started out like how it may have begun with you. A TV show you were so thrilled to see every morning while you ate breakfast brought you ever so close to the TV screen to get an up-close look at all the characters in their vivid colors and unique fitting clothes. Knowing that you can get a better look at the characters and even catch what others cannot see, you continue to sit close to the screen, inching closer to it. When told to see back, you were not able to see your characters the same as before. That moment begins your descent into shadow. Who could blame you for being that close to losing your sight? That show was that good!

Like I said, it was different for this woman. A captivating show and movie brought her to wear glasses for the rest of her life. However, her descent into seeing moving shadows really resulted in her seeing beyond reality. Floating spectacles overpowered her vision the moment she could not see the contours of her favorite characters. As those silhouettes began to mingle with each other, they transformed into specters with black holes for eyes that reveal an empty soul and legs and feet floating off the ground. The worst part was that they noticed that she could see them. Some played tricks on her by pulling her hair or moving objects close to her. Others went as far as throwing objects at her or staring at her while she slept.

It was too much for her. It didn’t help that her vision was deteriorating as well. Finally, she went to the eye doctor for a check-up and was prescribed glasses. The moment she put them on, the spirits disappeared and her dark world was filled with light once again. She was even able to watch her favorite TV shows again. However, when she had to take them off, those phantoms would return and she would go back to being haunted by them.

She was seven years old at the time when all of this started. You might be wondering that this was a lot for a seven-year-old. Yes. It indeed was. Twenty-two years later, it didn’t get any better. She lives alone and works the night shift at a tech company so she can somewhat sleep peacefully during the day. She does wear her glasses in her sleep, but it was something about the night that heightened her fear. From when it started until now, no one was affected by the spirits that followed her, but she knows they are still there. Sometimes, they make constant reminders by moving objects around her but not with as much force.

You see, spirits gain strength when others are aware of their existence. She realized that and did as much as she could to keep her glasses on. One day, while spending the day out shopping, she bumps into someone causing her glasses to fall and her lenses to crack. Panicking, she quickly grabs her glasses and puts them back on. The man apologizes to her and asks if she needs any help getting around seeing that her lenses are cracked. Sensing the cracked lenses too, the phantoms slowly gathered around her. The young woman closes her eyes and covers her ears to not hear the ghosts whispering curses in her ear. Suddenly, she felt a firm hand on her wrist and turned to look up at the man standing before her.

“I’m sorry. I cannot leave you like this. I will take you to the optometrist,” the man proclaimed.

The woman followed him to his car. He opened the door for her on the passenger side. He got in the driver’s seat and took off. Neither of them exchanged words. However, the man periodically glanced at the woman to check her state. She was calm as the car was moving, but the spirits around her were still there, watching her.

They arrived at the optometry office. The man opens the passenger door, lightly grabs her hand, and brings her into the office. He greets the secretary as he passes by. The woman looks up at him in confusion.

“I brought you to my clinic. I am an optometrist here,” he answered her questioning look.

He opens the door to his office and begins the examination. As she did many times before, she answered the questions he asked about her eye health. After the examination, the doctor gave a sigh and then turned to her for her diagnosis.

“You seemed to be bothered throughout this examination like something is haunting you. I am guessing that your glasses brought you some relief from that, correct?”

The woman nodded.

“Then, how about going through laser eye surgery? It could be a gamble though. You could very well have side effects from this and it may not get rid of your nightmares. What do you think?”

Yes, readers. What do you think she should do? If you were plagued with phantoms day and night, would you go through with the surgery knowing there is a possibility it will not get rid of your ability to see them?

Once again, I will leave you with this warning. If she so happens to go through with the surgery and they disappear, it will move on to its next victim. So, be careful when you look too close to something, you very well may see something you cannot unsee.