Elise

An Animal Jam tale

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'My name is Elise. '

I am three.

I am blind.

I cannot see.

''I had thought of that rhyme when I was little. I'm eleven now. I've always wanted to be able to see. To view the colors of the glorious world. ''

''Sure, I know simple facts like the sky is blue and the grass is green, but that...that just isn't enough for me. I want to see color, to see light, to see the world around me. Shapes and colors are abstract concepts to me; I don't understand them.''

''Then maybe I'll stop bumping into things every time my family has to move away for work. I never have a chance to make friends in the places my family moves to because, one, most jammers don't want to be friends with a blind snow leopard, and two, we move away way too frequently, so any friends I do make, I don't keep for long.''

''Town to town, village to village, even lived in Jamaa City for a little while. Once I finally start getting used to the place and learn how to navigate, we have to move again and I have to start all over. We have to move away again in about a month.''

''I overheard my parents talking about it. I hear a lot of things. Mainly because sound, touch, and smell are my only ways of learning to get around. I listen better than most other jammers. I listen to the song of the early birds, the whoosh of the wind, and the pitterpatter of raindrops on the roof. All of it is music to my ears. ''

''Some sounds are not so nice though. In just about every town I've moved to, I've heard jammers gossiping about me. ''

"That cub's got funky eyes, dude. She's weird."

''What's wrong with my eyes? I mean, other than I can't see out of them, of course. I'm pretty sure my eyes are normal aside from that. Other jammers either insult me behind my back or to my face on the way to school, remarking about my unusual pelt or my 'freaky' eyes.''

''Speaking of my schools, it's never been a pleasure to go to any of them. Everyone seemed to just look through me if I tried to say something, even the teachers. I would get scolded for not studying the books I was given, because they weren't in Braille. Both me and my parents have tried to explain my "visual issues" but to no avail. The teachers never listened. ''

I just wish I was normal.