Blinded. Fran Sánchez

on sound. I manage to change channels little by little with difficulty, but I cannot find any broadcasting news channel. I leave it on an important national channel waiting for them to broadcast a news program. I must rethink my situation. It may be in my best interests to seek help from the neighbors, even go out to the street. I am full of questions. That adventure now seems a bit dangerous and risky. If I go outside I may get disoriented, lost, and unable to return home. If the door closes it feels like it would be very difficult to even put the key into the lock. I prefer not to take the risk, better to stay in the comfort of my home, waiting for my wife.

      I do not even know what time it is. I am so disoriented that I have lost the ability to sense the pass of time. During the few hours of my affliction, I am discovering how difficult and complicated it is to live as a blind person. I feel defenseless and weak. Because of how unexpected it was, I jump out of fright. My phone suddenly began ringing. It took me a while to react and the call ended when I managed to pull it out of my pocket. I explore the edges of the apparatus, and, from the position of the gaps and buttons, I manage to identify its correct orientation. I wait a while and it rang again. I try to respond, but fail. I sense it is my beloved wife who is calling. It is a good thing she is insisting. Luck comes to my side and I manage to answer her call. She sounds very worried and tells me about her apocalyptic day, of her coworkers and students that are all blind. She, amazingly, is unaffected, out of a stroke of luck. She had tried to ask for official help, but failed. She naively asks me to go help her because she is overwhelmed. She weeps uncontrollably when she discovers my truth. She wants to come right away and help me. I tell her there is no hurry, that I can manage for now. I think it best to wait for aid from the government and that the children need her much more than me. Ana begged and implored me not to go outside, to avoid any possible danger, to be patient. She would be back when the circumstances allowed her to. We said goodbye with a kiss, an “I love you”, and a “see you soon”.

      A little more relaxed, I focus on the television. The current program does not catch my attention, so I keep changing channels one by one without finding anything on what was going on. The technological possibility of listening to the radio through the television came to mind. I go through the sound systems, stopping to listen for a while, until I find something interesting,

      a tired presenter broadcasting a short, repetitive fragment of news. He narrates that everything had started with a strong blinding light of an unknown origin. The presenter ventures off with several hypothesis, none of them confirmed. It could have come from an atomic bomb, something very unlikely, it did not seem like there was any devastation we know comes with that sort of weapon, besides, the country did not have any immediate threats nor motives for any aggression of that kind. Though, it did not rule out some new kind of terrorist attack. Maybe a large meteor entering the atmosphere caused a great flare. Another possibility could be a sort of unknown climatological effect or perhaps some anomaly caused by the sun, like a huge solar eruption. The presenter continued giving basic advice, like warning that venturing out on the street could be dangerous, it was better to stay home, since it was the safest place, and wait for help to arrive.

      It seems that I am wisely making the right choices, though waiting in the darkness is so boring and tedious that sleep is getting to me, but, as I fall asleep, I believe this situation that is happening to us could be a good theme for a novel.

      Chapter 3

      Susan and James

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      James always made an appointment by telephone. He left a message in Susan’s voicemail indicating the night he had available at the usual hour. Susan never gave him trouble and always adapted to his needs. Even if the time and night were already reserved, she would change her schedule for him, cancelling or adjusting the appointments others had. She considered him a VIP client for several reasons.

      Firstly, because of the comfort of seeing him in her attic without having to go somewhere else, though she never worked home out of safety, she trusted him. Physically he was not ugly. He looked good, pretty tall with a sporty appearance, you could tell he did exercise and took care of himself. She liked him. Single without a girlfriend, pleasant, charming, and very chivalrous, she really liked him. He was pretty meticulous, the only one who always came with a gift. Sometimes a rose, at other times with some delicious liquor-filled chocolate, a book or a movie they talked about in a previous appointment, a bottle of good wine, or a lottery ticket. Another of the reasons she had a predilection for him was because he was blind from birth. She was inadvertently permeated with a feeling of compassion and a bit of sadness. Although, at the same time, she admired him for his level of self-improvement, for his courage, and for his bravery when facing his problems. She would happily take care, attend, and pamper him. She even fantasized that they could together quench her incipient maternal instinct awakened by her unyielding biological clock.

      The next reason was because he always, always had his hands warm, even in winter. There was nothing more comforting for her than contact with warm skin.

      The evenings began with some canapés and snacks soaked in soft sparkling wine, then, according to the occasion, they had sautéed meat or fish with a pleasant, engaging conversation, sprinkled with witty jokes and good humor. He would constantly make her laugh. They always had something aphrodisiacal and energetic for dessert to charge their batteries. Both of them knew what awaited them next.

      A little slow music to dance fixed to each other and to warm up the room. With a diaphanous dress she pressed her breasts on him while feeling how a bulge swelled in his pants.

      Susan, because of her job, knew many men in a carnal manner. Most of them were incompetent and did what they wanted, which is what they payed for, but James was very special, he was light years ahead of them. He had an unusual trait obtained through his interest, tenacity, and effort, a feature he had gotten also thanks to the development of his other senses.

      James had never seen a body, not a woman’s or a man’s, and he did not know how boobs, butts, and genitals were visually. He could only see Susan’s body through touch, smell, taste, and hearing. He longed and wished to contemplate and admire her completely, entirely, from top to bottom.

      She would first lie down on the ample bed, settling face down as James took on an active role, preferring to take the lead. He loved to concentrate on foreplay and Susan, relaxed, received all of his attention and dedication.

      He explored her body with the soft touch of the brush of his fingertips delicately, easy, without a hurry, making Susan’s heart race.

      With centimeters of skin to explore, James examined almost every part of Susan, even those most hidden, stimulating her erogenous zones for her enjoyment and delight.

      He started from her head, caressing her on her crown. He moved his fingers softly in between her hair and gave her a relaxing massage. He continued down her neck, brushing her hair to the side, leaving the back exposed. He caressed her very delicately. Susan trembled and let him carry on. He went over her, barely touching her skin, slow, very softly, from the back of her head, down her shoulders. Approaching the area of the tailbone he went around the anal zone, reaching her silky buttocks, playing with them with a subtle, spongy massage. Susan’s hair stood on end as she got goosebumps.

      He stroked the most delicate inner and outer regions of her sensual thighs, staying clear of the genital area. He continued behind the knees, very sensitive to his warm, gentle motions, followed then by the ankles and feet. Almost like a professional masseur, he did not forget any anatomical area.

      Gently, following his instructions, she turned around and set herself face up. Firmly grasping her hands, they interlocked their fingers a little to then move down, stroking her wrists and forearms slowly. A light brush against her neck and shoulders until he reached her breasts to squeeze them gently, rubbing against her nipples and areolas of her large breasts with his palms. He explored her abdomen, drawing small circles around her navel. Playing with her trimmed pubic area, he avoided centering on the genitals passing sideways over her clitoris with caresses and circular motions. He continued down through the inner thighs, advancing across her long legs until finishing with a light massage of the soles of her feet.

      When his fingers had already seen enough, he continued on guided by his sense of smell. She was permeated by an expensive, fragrant