Page 24 of Sight Unseen

I told myself to focus on my training—that maybe it would help me get rid of this urgent need I suddenly had for my best friend.

Right now I stood in a nearby office block that was empty. Suzanne knew the owner and used it for some of her training. It was the first time I’d gone out of the comfortable confines of my home, backyard and friendly neighborhood street to use my stick.

We’d gotten there early in the morning, so I’d only had one cup of coffee. I was grumpy and not looking forward to more bumped shins and elbows.

Suzanne stood at my left side, hand on my elbow. She grounded me that way, preparing me for what lay ahead.

“So, we’re in a long hallway in an empty building. No one’s around, the path ahead is clear, there’s nothing to trip over. Remember that echolocation thing we’ve been working on?”

“Yeah, the human dolphin thing.” I scowled. “I’m no Daniel Kish but I think I can manage the whole tapping my cane, stamping my foot and snapping my fingers thing to figure out where stuff is. Just don’t expect to do the clicking thing. That’s just not me. I’m no gray mammal.”

Suzanne chuckled. “Fine. No marine mammal sounds. So, you’ve been out in the street listening to noises and you’ve learned to read your environment a bit, make yourself aware of what and who surrounds you. So you’ve done some of the dolphin stuff.” She snorted with laughter as I grunted. “Now we need to make sure your ears manage to identify loss of sound as well as the cause of it. That’s important in realizing what’s around you.”

“So what?” I muttered. “You going to put ear muffs on me or what?”

“No. Far from it. We’re going to walk down these hallways and I want you to listen carefully. Tell me if you sense or feel anything different. It’ll take a few minutes, but we’ve got time.”

We began to walk down the hall together, Suzanne behind me and slightly to my left. We did this for what seemed like an hour but was probably only minutes.

“How long do we have to do this for?” I grumbled. “It’s a hallway, nothing different about anything. Except some of the smells coming out of the offices.” I wrinkled my nose. “Smells like old gym socks and curry.”

Suzanne put a hand on my arm to stop me. “Okay. How do you know there are offices?”

I cocked my head and glared at her. “I don’t know. I guess because we’re in an office building?” I didn’t mean to be sarcastic but I wanted—no, needed— another coffee.

“Nate, listen to your instincts. You know that there are offices, but I need you to understand how you do that. Walk up and down again. On your own this time. Use the wall to guide you.”

I fixed my mind to the task as I set off down the corridor, stomach clenched with nerves. My cane tapped against the floor on what I assumed was linoleum. It didn’t have the spring of carpet or the smoothness of tiles. My left hand trailed along the wall. As I walked I tried to focus.

Step one. Step two. After a while I noticed an emptiness between wall surfaces and the difference when I passed those certain areas. The sound changed, the air changed, and the smell changed.

I stopped. “I’m passing open doorways, I think,” I murmured back to Suzanne. “The air feels different. I feel a slight breeze. The sound isn’t as dead as when I’m against the walls and I guess the smells mean the door is open and I can smell inside.”

“Oh Grasshopper, you have served Master well,” was the only thing Suzanne said but I heard the pride in her voice. “That’s exactly what I wanted you to figure out. Now keep going. Tell me what you feel when you get to the end of the next wall. Stop there. Don’t go farther.”

Feeling cocky, I sped up.

“Not too fast,” Suzanne warned. “Slow down, tiger.”

I smirked as I walked faster, gaining confidence. My hand dropped to my side and I lost contact with the wall.

Suzanne shouted something but I was too busy congratulating myself on getting this far in my training today. This cane work wasn’t so difficult after all.

I forged ahead, forgetting Suzanne’s instruction to stop after the wall ended. Yet stop I did. My cane hit something solid, pushing it back through my hand to slip onto the floor. My face collided with something hard. Suzanne shouted as I reeled back, warm fluid dripping from my nose.

Shit. That fucking hurt!

I yelled and barrelled back, losing my footing and crashing to the floor.

Suzanne rushed to my side, and her strong hands tried to pull me upright.

“Leave me,” I snarled, wiping my hand across my nose and feeling the gush of blood. The metallic smell was overwhelming. “Why didn’t you fucking tell me there was a wall there?”

Christ, I don’t need this shit. I don’t want this shit.

I struggled to my feet, shaking off the hands on my body.

“Nate, I told you to stop after the next wall.” Suzanne’s voice was even and a tissue was pushed into my hand. “It’s a dead end with another corridor to the left, with another hallway. I wanted to see if you could sense it, the change in the layout.”