my blood is a flood of rubies

precious stones

despite what people thought, being blind wasn’t that hard. at least, not when you were born that way. you learned how to work around your lack of eyesight as a child and by the time you were an adult, most passing strangers didn’t realize you couldn’t see them. there was little to dislike about something you considered a piece of yourself, but what sariel did dislike was the questions. ”can you tell what i’m doing?”, ”are your other senses like, amazing?”, ”do you miss being able to see?”, and of course, ”do you need me to help you?”. the correct answer to the last one was “no.” a lot of wolves, once they realized she was blind, tried to baby her and then got extremely offended when she called them out on it. and truth be told, she appreciated the thought, but she’d lived four years with a disability and survived - she wasn’t magically going not be able to take care of herself. she’d long since learned what she could and couldn’t do and when she needed help, she’d gladly ask for it.

the only problem with blindness is that people use colors as adjectives, or assume she knows what they’re talking about when they say “like those pine trees” or something along those lines. and most of the time, those are the wolves who ask her if she misses being able to see. the sad truth of the matter is that you can’t miss something if you never had it to begin with. she didn’t gradually go blind - she couldn’t see the first time she opened her eyes and she still can’t see. she doesn’t know what color her eyes are or how the sky looks at night or what her parents even look like. she know details - touch is a wonderful thing - but after that she has to go by imagination. (sometimes she pretends she’s a very beautiful thing but she knows she’s not extraordinary). it’s a dreary burden to bear and she wouldn’t wish it upon her worst enemy. however, she amends in her head, she does bear it and it’s not completely bad. she’s a lot more in tune with herself, she decides as she walks, and that’s more than what can be said about a lot of wolves her age.

she’s not sure where she’s at, exactly, when she finally comes out of her thoughts. there is some sort of grass waving around her, brushing her limbs and touching her face when she lowers her head to sniff at the grass. the ground beneath her is only slightly moist and smells like a body of water. normally sariel likes to avoid water - an experience as a pup taught her that accidents can happen at any time - but something about it draws her closer. eventually the grass thins out and the ground turns sandy. she decides to stop there, while she’s still on mostly earthy ground. sand is an opponent she dislikes to battle with - it shifts and moves and when you fall, it gets all in your coat and causes irritating itching for days to follow. besides, it’s almost winter and if she gets wet, she’ll practically freeze. so instead she chooses to sit where she is

575 WORDS || CREATED BY MOMO || LONER || UNBOUND || UNTOUCHED ©