Najila

Najila Stethers had been born blind. From the moment she was pushed into life, her world had been total darkness. The first few years of her life had been rough. Feeling her cheeks being pinched and not having the slightest idea who by. It was hardest when Najila began to crawl and walk. Always bumping into things unseen, her mother or father always had to keep a watchful eye on her when she roamed about the house freely.

As Najila grew, she learned to distinguish people by their voices. When sitting at the dinner table listening to her mother and father babble on about God-knows-what, she was able to tell who was speaking by their voice. Eating was also a problem. Najila never really knew where her food was headed, unable to see the fork right in front of her, she sometimes ended up getting her dinner all over her cheek before finding her mouth.

On her sixth birthday, Najila received a well trained guide dog to “see for her.” She was pleased when her parents told her that the two-year-old black Labrador's name was Mack. Over a two week course, Najila learned how to ask Mack to do things for her. The two became very attached, knowing that they relied on each other.

Najila learned to read brail at a normal pace. By the time kids of her age were reading Harry Potter, she was reading Harry Potter in brail. But writing was something else. Najila couldn't write with a pencil, she had to type it. Her parents bought her a special brail keyboard that she could use, but whenever Najila wanted to write, someone had to bring up the program on her computer so she could.

Najila had her own special view of the world from her imagination. Not being able to see the bad or good, yet knowing it was there. Through writing, Najila explained to everyone else how she sees the world. Hearing that big crash of a construction site while walking by, and not knowing that it was something so harmless.

As Najila entered fifth grade, she felt the awkward stares that she received from the other kids. Mack was by her side at all times, and she told herself that he was the only friend she needed. She came to find that recess was hardest for her. Children of all ages running and jumping about, playing all sorts of games that she wasn't able to. The joyful screams around the playground soon grew painfully loud in Najila's ears, and she found that when recess came, she would hide in the bathroom to avoid all the racket. Najila Stethers had a hard life growing up, and it was about to get a lot harder.


A large bang awoke Najila in the middle of the night. She fumbled around on her night stand until she found her sunglasses. Slipping them on with one hand, she read her brail clock with the other. 2:35 am. It would still be dark out, but what had that noise been? She swung her legs over the side of the bed and searched with them to find Mack. She grabbed his collar, and he guided her out of the room and into the upstairs hallway.

Voices came from the kitchen. One of them was angry, the other sort of pleading. With her free hand, Najila grabbed hold of the rail and walked slowly down the stairs in her red and blue tye-dye pajamas. She walked to the wall in-between the kitchen and living room. Najila recognized the voices as her parents. She nudged Mack behind her so they wouldn't see him, then listened intently.

“Now you listen hear Mary, I'll tell you for the last time, I've had it with you! All you ever talk about is how we're gonna help that girl, and how you love it here in this small town! I've had it with you, this house, and this town!” Her father's words pierced Najila like she had been stabbed in the heart. How could he speak like that?

“But what about Najila?” her mother's sorrowful voice came. “How are you going to explain this to your eleven-year-old daughter?”

“Well you can explain it to her when she wakes up from all your dang yelling!” And with that said, Najila heard her father leave the house, slamming the door behind him. The roar of a car engine outside alerted Najila of her mother crying in the kitchen.

Najila crept into the kitchen with Mack by her side. She felt her mother look up at her, followed by warm arms pulling Najila closer to her weeping mother.

“Oh Najila,” her mother whispered into Najila's night black hair. “I'm so sorry, Honey. I'm so sorry.”

That was how Najila remembered her father. Standing in the kitchen with her mother, and listening as her father's car pulled out of the driveway, screeching to the left, and heading far away from their home.


“Najila!” her mother yelled up to her. “Najila hurry! We're going to miss our flight!” Najila slipped on her brail wristwatch and slid her fingers over it. 9:00 am. Their flight to Boston, Massachusetts left at 10:00 am. She grabbed her duffel bag from her bed and called to Mack, who was already at her side. She laughed at herself and then grabbed his special harness leash. Usually dogs were only allowed in the cargo station of the plane, but Mack, being a guide dog, had special privileges to stay in the coach with Najila; he even had the window seat.

Hurrying down the stairs, her mother handed her a warmed bagel and took her duffel bag. Mack guided Najila down to her mother's tan '97 Toyota and tugged on the leather strap tied to the handle. The back seat door opened, and Najila slid in, followed by Mack, who also closed the door. Najila's mother finished loading the rest of the luggage into the car and then locked the house. She slipped into the driver's seat and turned the ignition. The car engine roared to life and Mary pulled out of the driveway, turning left onto the street. This was the beginning of a very long journey.


“Najila quickly, our gate is over here.” Her mother grabbed Najila's hand and pulled her into a speeded walk. Mary handed the flight attendant the three tickets and then received them back torn in half. Najila heard the robotic “Have a nice flight,” as she, Mack, and her mother walked down a tunnel that led onto the plane. They were greeted by another flight attendant who apparently pointed them to their seats, but Najila couldn't be sure. As Najila stepped onto the massive plane, she felt the vibration of it readying to pull away from the platform and taxi down the runway. She felt her mother pulling her down a crowded aisle with Mack trailing behind.

“Okay, Honey,” her mother seemed to hiss. “Seats one, two, and three, C. Go on Macky.” Najila felt Mack wedge in front of her and then leap up onto the seat. “Okay Najila, you next,” her mother said gently, nudging Najila into her seat. She heard her mother flop down beside her in her own seat and then stuff her carry-on bag under it. Najila fumbled with her seatbelt for a moment, then finally clipped the two straps together. She heard the alarming ping as the fasten seatbelt sign came on. Najila zoned into her own thoughts as the flight attendant at the front of the plane began going over the what you should do in an emergency.

Najila began to think about that hot June afternoon when this all started...


Ring Ring...Ring Ring...Ring Ring...CLICK, “Hello?” Najila heard her mother's voice come from the living room as she sat at the kitchen table eating a bowl of Corn Flakes. Mary's voice had dimmed to a murmur, then rose with great excitement. “Okay, thank you. Thank you so much!” Click. “Najila!” She heard her mother cheer as she bounded into the kitchen.

“What is it, Mom?” Najila asked, quite confused from this sudden burst of joy from her mother.

“The surgery! Do you remember me mentioning to you the surgery that you could recieve to make you see?” Najila did remember, how could she forget, she thought about it every day, what her life would be like if she ever got that surgery. “Well, you remember how we couldn't afford it?” Najila nodded. Every since her father left two years ago, Najila and her mother had been financially troubled, even with Mary's waitressing job. “Well now we can!” Najila lifted her head and faced her mother. “My lawyer bargained enough money out of your father for us, so we can afford your surgery!”

Najila pulled her sunglasses away from her face and set them on the table. A single rolling tear slithered down her cheek from her glazed over bluish-gray eyes. Najila would be able to see. After living in the darkness for so long, she would find the light. This was a miracle.


Heavy turbulence shook Najila awake from her long slumber.

“You awake, Honey?” her mother asked.

“Yeah,” Najila replied, stretching her arms out. She reached to her left and stroked her hand down Mack's long furry back. Mack leaned over the armrest between them and planted a slobbering lick on Najila's cheek. She giggled and wiped the slimy goo from her face with hthe back of her hand. Another smaller streak of turbulence shook the plane, rattling the overhead carry-on compartments. Mack whined and fidgeted in his seat.

“Honey, will you comfort Mack please? This must be a big shock for him,” Mary whispered to her. Najila turned to Mack and stroked him, scratching his belly and behind his ears. Mack panted rhythmically in response, stressed from the continuing turbulence.

After a few minutes, the turbulence passed, and the pilot came on the speaker apologizing for that “bit of rough weather.” Najila turned to her mother with a question on her mind...

“Mom,” she began.

“Yes dear?” her mother replied, sounding quite distracted.

“What does, Najila, mean?” She heard her mother sit up from whatever she was fumbling with on the floor, and turn to face her.

“Uh, nothing dear. Najila doesn't...doesn't mean anything. It's urm, nothing really.” Her mother's voice sounded troubled, and Najila was unsure why she was keeping the meaning from her. Leaving her mother to her secrets, Najila rested her head on the seat and drifted back off to sleep.


“Najila,” a distant voice whispered to her. Najila opened her eyes. In washed waves of color, beautiful flowers, the silvery full moon...and her mother. A beautiful vision of her mother and Mack, standing before her. Her mother's skin seemed to have a certain aura about it, it almost seemed to glow. Her eyes were a sharp blue, and her straight hair dark brown. Mack looked younger than his age. There was greying areas on his muzzle, but besides that and a slightly enlarged stomach, he look young and healthy. So this is what life was like when you were able to see. Beauty at its finest, being able to see the ones you love. Being able to write with a pencil in a classroom, and run and jump at recess with other kids just like her...Her mother and Mack now stood close to her, but as she went to touch them, they melted into something much darker. They melted into her father, a darkening shape with a hideous image. He had red eyes, and looking at his face was like staring into the devil himself. The flowers and the silvery moon morphed into ruins, burning buildings, crumpling walls. Then her father melted as well, but not into someone else, into flesh, and then bone. Najila screamed.


“Najila!” Mary shrieked. Najila's eyes shot open. Darkness.

“A dream...” she breathed. “Oh, it was just a dream...” She felt her mother's protective arms close around her, even felt Mack's hot breath over her shoulder.

“It's okay, Honey,” her mother whispered. “we're here now, in Boston. Your surgery is only a few hours away.” Najila shuddered, hoping that when she saw the world for the first time, that it would be nothing like the second half of her her dream. She wanted to see only the good, but knew that wasn't possible. She hadn't seen anything for thirteen years, her whole life. Najila followed her mother out of their seats, and then let Mack pass her, grabbing onto his harness leash. It took half an hour to go through customs, and another fifteen minutes to get their two bags. The airport was noisy, much like recess at Najila's school. She wished that she had a bathroom to hide in. Mack growled at a man who had pushed Najila to the side to get to his luggage. She heard the man step back and shift in-between a few people to move away from them.

Outside the terminal Najila's mother whistled for a cab. They loaded their bags into an empty cab and slid inside. Mary told the driver the hotel they were going to and he pulled away from the curb, along with the loud, unpleasant airport.

Once arriving at the hotel, Najila waited on the sidewalk as her mother payed the driver and took their two bags from the trunk. Mary led her and Mack over to a young man standing by the door in uniform.

“Ms. Stethers?” He asked in a deep voice.

“Yes.”

“Right this way, Ma'am.” Najila found that they were being led into the hotel. She heard the robotic sound as automatic glass doors slid open and then shut behind them. Then came the ding of the elevator as it came down and the doors slid open before them. The four of them walked in and the man pressed a button on the right side next to the doors. The doors closed, and the elevator began to crawl upwards.

“There's no need to check in, because well, you're here for urm...” the man seemed to pause for a moment, unsure of what to say. “...Special services.”

“Yes, that's right. Najila is here to have her surgery. You're going to see the world, Sweetie,” her mother said happily. Najila smiled and stroked Mack. She was excited, overwhelmingly happy that she was going to get this surgery. She had thought about it every night, what it would be like to see. But as any other kid would be, she was scared. The doctors had told her mother on the phone that there was a chance that it would not be completely successful, or possibly a total failure. But when you've lived in darkness all your life, any vision at all would do for her.

The ding of the elevator surprised Najila out of her thoughts. The elevator doors creaked open, and they walked casually out. The man led them to their room, and handed both Najila and her mother a key, then strolled back around to the elevator. Mary slipped the key into the lock and turned it. Click. The door unlocked and Mack pushed it open with his nose. Najila giggled and walked inside, followed by her mother.

“Well, this is it, room 5D.”

Najila flipped open the glass covering over her brail wristwatch and checked the time. It was 1:30 pm, her operation was at 2:00 pm.

“Mom, we better get going.”

“Oh my goodness you're right! Okay, well, let's go downstairs and get another cab. We don't want to be late for the most important moment in your life.” She heard her mother toss their bags to the side and head back into the hall. Najila quickly followed with Mack leading her. Her mother shut the door to their room, and the next thing Najila knew, they were walking into the hospital.

Najila followed her mother up to the main desk.

“Najila Stethers,” she heard her mother tell the nurse. There was a moment of rustling papers, and then a clicking of high-heels on tiles.

“Oh yes, right this way. You are here for the eye operation, aren't you?” the nurse asked, leading them down a hallway.

“Yes that's us. Come along Najila, this way.” Najila gripped Mack's harness leash tighter as he trotted down the hospital hallway, then followed her mother and the nurse into a cold examination room.

“The doctor will be with you in just a moment,” the nurse chirped, then scuttled out of the room, her heels clicking on the tile floor as she walked back to her desk.

The doctor walked in almost immediately after the nurse left. He talked with Najila's mother outside for a minute while Najila waited in the chilly room with Mack.

When the two came back in, the doctor bent down in front Najila. He took Mack's leash from her hands and passed it to Mary. Then he took off Najila's sunglasses and set them on the cushioned chair beside him.

“Are you ready, Najila?” he asked calmly, his voice soothing her worries. Najila nodded. The doctor let out a breath that he had seemed to be holding. “Then let's go.”

Najila was then put on a stretcher and wheeled into a warm room. It felt good against her skin after being in the cold examination room. The doctor talked her through what he was doing, and what was going to happen. Something was slipped into Najila's skin. A cold shiver went down her spine, and she slowly drifted into a heavy sleep. The laser surgery was about to begin.


Najila heard hushed voices outside the room. There was an aching pain pulsing inside her head. Half conscious, she listened as best she could, her eyes closed tight.

“I'm so sorry,” she heard a man's voice say. The doctor?

“How...how could this happen?” That was her mother's voice. She was very upset. Was that crying she heard?

“The laser...it just...went through.” The man's voiced paused. “She doesn't have long.” The rest of the conversation was muffled, followed by crying. She heard someone open the door and come into the room. Two people. One was footsteps, the other...was that the clatter of claws on tile?

Najila opened her eyes to find her mother and Mack hovering over her. Her mother's ocean blue eyes caressed her own, and every feature of her face seemed so perfect. It was so like her dream. The silvery moon shone in her window, and exotic flowers were placed on the window sill. Her mother and Mack, so close to her...

Tears welled in Najila's eyes, and for the first time, she was able to see them in her mother's too. But instead of her dream melting into something horrible, the picture of her mother, Mack, the moon, and the flowers, just faded away...

Mary bent down to Najila, and whispered in her ear,

“Najila means, eyes that glisten.”

But Najila was no longer listening to her mother, just to the angels singing, who carried her out of the hospital to see the world with her new eyes.