Just finished getting ready for bed. I place my toothpaste and toothbrush back where they always go. Reach to the right and open the bathroom door, ten steps and I reach my bed.
I have to follow this system, because I am blind. I am fourteen and have been blind from birth. This girl has never seen the color of her birthday cakes, her friends, or her service dog.
My mommy and daddy are out on a date, and I have been listening to recorded books since i got home from school. The adventures the children have on those books are always much better than the life I live. I love audios because everyone who listens to them is blind. Nobody sees Harry Potter, or Bilbo Baggins, or Mole and Rat from Wind in the Willows. They only hear the story. When I listen to audio books, everyone is like me.
My dog begins to bark, and my parents must be home. Maybe they brought back some desert from the restaurant! All the lights are turned out, but it makes no difference to me. I tuck myself into bed and wait for them to come and say goodnight. Wellington, my dog, is barking his head off now, and I yell at him that it's mom and dad.
Then I hear a window break downstairs, and I hear people walking around downstairs. Robbers!
My heart almost explodes out of my chest in fear. I heard stories about houses a few blocks down being broke into, and we don't live in the best of neighborhoods. I panic as the burglars ransack the downstairs, overturning things and swearing to each other. My dog is barking when a earsplitting bang crashes through the house. They shot my dog! What are they going to do to me if they find me?
Fortunately, my dad is smart. my closet door is solid metal, and if I close it, it locks from the inside. He told me to go in there if I am ever in danger when I am alone. As I scramble out of my bed, I accidentally knock over my bedside lamp in my panic. I try to catch it, but I am blind.
The smash echoes through the house, and everything goes quiet. Fear chokes me as I hear footsteps on the stairs. I twist out of bed, but fall as the glass from the lamp cuts my feet. I scramble up, praying that I can find my closet in time. My feet spiking pain from the cuts and I stumble across the room. As I hear them reach the top of the stairs, my fingers come into contact with cold steel. The door, safety! I hurriedly shut the metal barrier in haste as I hear the footsteps approach my bedroom door. Funny though, I don't remember carpet in my closet. It doesn't matter now, I am safe. The door opens and the way it sounds and the carpet register in my mind.
I locked myself outside of the closet.
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