_{Image by Daniel Hannah from Pixabay}

The White Cane

Beep Beep Beep Beep

"Ghad, what time is it?" Bill said while throwing off his comforter then running his hand on the corner table, trying to find the alarm clock. Once he got hold of it, he turned it off then placed it closer to his chest. His right hand traced the clock's face, "0600..." He said it almost like a whisper.

Sat up in his bed, Bill took a few moments to recollect himself before standing up. He extended his arm then walked slowly towards his right till he felt the cold door, He started to undress and put his clothes on a basket just beside him.

Bill went inside without bothering to put on the light. The chill of the floor tiles penetrated his barefoot, immediately he traced the wall then grabbed the shower knob. The bathroom started to warm up as the hot water came pouring in from above.

On the lower right corner, the squarish 500ml plastic bottle is the shampoo, and on its right is the soap. Smiled as he felt both of them exactly where they should be. A few minutes later he reached out towards the basin carefully tracing its edges till he reached his toothbrush which he used with all enthusiasm.

Bill turned off the shower and then proceeded towards the wash basin, there he took his shaverr. He slowly ran his left hand on his face tracing the stubble then following it with a shaver. Repeated the process until his face felt smooth.

Bill took a towel and dried himself before going to the dresser went. On the clothes hanger, he ran his fingers on its shoulder till he grab hold of the cardboard tied to its neck. He started to read the Braille inscribe on the tag, "Black buttoned-up shirt.. this would look nice on some faded jeans, now where is it?"

***

Bill grabbed his white cane and left his apartment. Twelve steps towards his left then turn right was the stairs leading towards the ground floor. Upon reaching the stairs he grabbed hold of the handrails and slowly went down while counting the steps.

“7 steps then turn and then another 7 steps… then voilà.” He mused himself.

On the ground floor, he heard a voice, "Oh, good morning Bill you are up early today."

"Oh, Mrs. Tremblay... good morning!" Bill replied trying to look her way.

"Are you alone? Where is your sister? and where are you going?" She asked inquisitively.

"I am off to see her right now."

"All alone?"

"I am going to be fine Mrs. Tremblay, don't you worry." He said it while giving her a reassuring smile.

"Okay, Bill but you take care now. You hear?"

"I hear you Mrs. Tremblay, I'll be off now." He said cheerfully as he turned around and went outside the apartment. A cold chilly wind greeted him but still, he can feel the warmth of the morning sun penetrating his face. He turned right with his cane upfront.

After a few minutes, the sweet smell of Arabian jasmine was around him. "Ah, I am near Samuel’s house... guess that means the bus stop is just a few yards away." He thought to himself

"Hey, Bill... mah man! What's up!" A hoarse male voice came from the front of him.

"Oh, Samuel!" Bill raised his arm high with open palms and no sooner another palm met it in mid-air, giving off a crisp slapping sound.

"So, bruh where ya headed?"

"Going to see my sister in Burgundy,"

"Oh, that is not so far. You taking the bus?"

"Yes," He replied while pointing his cane towards that direction.

" Well, damn proud of ya... I can see you are doing well bruh and I'll leave ya to it. take care now."

"You too Samuel." Again he turned and headed towards the bus stop. No sooner did his cane hit a metallic object. Coming closer to inspect it was a metal pole.

He called out, "Bus stop?"

A soft female voice replied, "Yes, the 7 AM bus will be here shortly."

"Thank you." He answered back while he tried to reach for the bench with his free hand.

***

A vehicle came screeching in. He hear a swoosh of the pneumatic door opening then a large male voice shouted, "Bill, glad to see yo!. Are you going to Burgundy to see your sister?"

He stood up and said, "Yes, Mr. Jose."

"The door is a bit on your right and both seats on the front row are free." He said with caution in his voice.

"Thank you." Bill navigated easily towards his seat and as soon as he took it the bus door closed then went on its way. He took out his headphones and listened to one of his music from his phone.

_{Life is like a Boat by Rie Fu}

He counted how many times the bus stopped and its door opens. The fourth time, he put away his headphone and no sooner did Mr. Jose shouted down the aisle. "Hey, Bill we are here."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Jose, I'll make sure my Anna brings you some of her cookies."

"Thanks kid, your sister bakes the best cookies... anyway I can see she is waiting on the bench."

As he passed by the drivers he felt a light tap on the back and in front of him a familiar voice, "Bill you made it."

"Of course I did.. who do you think I am?"

He felt a tight hug as soon as he stepped off the bus, "I was so worried you might get lost or something."

He hugged her back, "Being blind is not so bad you know, I can take care of myself... and I also have a job."

"Okay, you earned your independence.” Anna said while sobbing.

FIN

Thank you for reading!😁

***

Author's Note

I wrote for the past three prompts 😭: Artist, was going for a painter who got trapped inside his painting... inside he created something like The Birth of Venus using just his will (for the "character creation" bit). Headlight, I read a whole bunch of articles on how to run the quarter of a mile track... then write it in detail (for "hook"). Lastly, Tomorrow imagined a cutting-edge game... like a game of tomorrow.

But,

For some reason, no matter how detailed the idea is... I can't write like I have forgotten how to. LOL!

So, for this... I decided to write as if I was starting again from the very beginning, and just do something simpler, or try to make it simple enough to avoid too many errors. Hopefully I can get back on track.

Tha being said.. I would like to say sorry for the rough writing.

• #theinkwellprompt is Lens with a challenge of "establishing a story setting".

• The White Cane is an international symbol for the blind.

• Braille is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are blind, deaf blind, or who have low vision.

• I read some articles regarding how blind people go about their days and then I tried to write about a person trying to prove he can be independent.

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