Chapter 1

I was tired of walking around but I still couldn’t trace my parents' location.

"Lauren, come here. We have a gift for you."

"Find us, Sweetheart. You can't get our surprise gift for you if you couldn't find us."

I pouted my lips when I heard what my parents said.  Are they kidding me? Or maybe they just forgot that I was blind and I couldn’t be able to get close to where they are.

You heard it right. I am blind. I was blind since I'm seven years old. I was blinded by an accident that happened ten years ago.

I used to play with the paper plane that my dad made for me.  I was playing on the wide lawn of our house because it was windy there. And I'm not allowed to go out of our gate because our house was just next to the road. I think there will be a storm so the wind was stronger that day than on ordinary days.

A strong wind threw away my paper plane and it landed near to our gate. I immediately ran to retrieve my toy for fear that the wind would blow it away again and be even farther away. When I was about to stand up, a car suddenly crashed into our gate.  The car collided with our gate so strongly that it created a very loud noise. I was so shocked by what I saw so I suddenly stiffened where I'm standing as my eyes widened. I felt my whole body was trembling because of extreme fear. I wanted to run fast but I couldn't move my legs. It was as if my feet were stuck on the ground and didn't want to be removed from where I standing.  And the only thing I could do was be stunned as I stared at the small pieces of broken windshield glass flying towards me.

My daddy ran fast to pick me up and take me away in front of the gate and so the broken glass wouldn't hit me. But it was too late. I was already hit in my face by small pieces of broken glass.  And it's very painful when the tiny pieces of broken glass entered my eyes. I cried out loudly at the extreme pain that I felt. I covered my eyes that were full of blood with my trembling small hands. I suddenly fainted because of the extreme pain that I was felt.

When I woke up I was already inside the hospital with a bandage covered my whole face.  I cried out loud because until this time I still felt fear in my heart. But the doctor would not let me cry. He said that the tears in my eyes might affect the healing of my eyes. So even though I wanted to scream out loud I restrained myself. I want to get better. I already missed my bed, my pillows, and my blanket.

It took almost two weeks before the wounds on my face and eyes completely healed. And the day the bandage was removed from my face and eyes I discovered that I could no longer see. I could see nothing but darkness even though my eyes were open.

My parents hugged me as they accompanied me in crying. I was too young to be blind. But the most painful was when I learn that the person which caused my blindness was escaped and was nowhere to be found.

"Mom! Daddy! You guys knew that even though I haven't seen for a long time, I still can't memorize every corner of our house," I frowned at them.

How can I master every corner of our house when they always support me every time I go out of my room. When my parents were not around, our housemaid Nana Violy would always support me too. So I can't master the paths and walk inside our house without colliding with the things inside our house.

"We're just here next to you, Sweetheart," my dad whispered to me.  Daddy calls me "Sweetheart".  And I like that when he calls me.  I'm a daddy's girl. Of course, my mommy and I were also close to each other, it is just that I still feel closer to my dad than mom.

"Now, you and Mommy are here next to me but earlier you were not."

I could already smell the scent of my mommy and daddy so I knew they were close to me now.

My family loves vanilla lace from Victoria's Secret. So when I smell vanilla lace, definitely my parents were next to me or just near me.

I walked slowly as I sniffed the smell of vanilla perfume in the air that would take me to where my parents are. As I walking slowly I suddenly ran into a soft thing that smelled vanilla flavor as well.

"Woah! What is that, Dad?"  I asked in surprise.

"Here is our birthday gift to you, Lauren," Mom said.  "Happy seventeenth birthday, Dear."

My hand felt the big thing that was soft and smells vanilla flavor that my parents were given to me.

"A teddy bear?"  I guess as I hug it. It's my seventeenth birthday today. My parents wanted to give me a big birthday celebration but I refused them.  I just wanted to celebrate my birthday together with them. And also I don't have friends. So who will I invite to attend my party?

"It's a human-size teddy bear. And from now on you can always be with Teddy when were not by your side. And when you hug him, it's like your mommy and I are hugging you. I love you so much, Sweetheart. "

"Oh, you're really sweet, Dad," I hugged my daddy tightly.  "And I love you too. Of course, I love you too, Mom. And I love this gift," I said as I hugged daddy.

"Let me join you. I want a hug too," Mommy said as if she was jealous that I only hugged Daddy.

Daddy and I just laughed at her reaction. Then mom hugged both me and dad. Although I'm already blind I feel that I'm still blessed.  Because having loving and caring parents beside me was a great blessing in my life.

My parents loved me so much as I love them. Even without a big party on my birthday I still feel very happy.  The presence and love of my parents were enough to make me happy.

Because of their love, I was able to face and accept the fact that I would never see again. That I can no longer see the beautiful scenery that my family often visits together with Nana Violy, which we consider a member of our family. I can also no longer see the beautiful colors around me, my favorite Disney Channel show and most of all  I will never see the faces of those who love me again.

But because of the love shown by the people around me, especially my parents, I also gradually accepted the tragedy that happened to my eyes. But of course, my happiness would be complete if I could see again.