"Um... hello? I'm new here, so I'm a little lost..." I say to a girl who is facing away from me.

"Hm?" She asks, turning my direction but not facing me directly.

I fidget, "um... well I'm new to this town, so I was wondering if you could direct me towards the nearest book store?"

"Umm... well I think it's somewhere around two blocks south. The intersection of eighth and main to be exact!" She says cheerfully. "Actually I was about to head there, so we can walk together!"

She smiles and I nod, beginning to slowly walk towards where she pointed out. "Bookstore," she suddenly says, her dog jumping up and walking in front of her. Strange I think to myself, not saying anything aloud. Her dog pulls her along as we walk, crossing streets not being the problem because of the lack of traffic.

When we get there, she puts her hand out awkwardly and pats the door for a second before finding the handle, turning it and walking in. I follow behind her, letting the door close softly behind us.

The people in the bookstore seem to know the girl as they welcome her with friendly greetings. She returns their greetings and immediately walks into the store, heading for a certain section. Seems like she knows where she going...

I walk hesitantly into the store, following the signs to the cooking section. I need a new cookbook since this is the first time I'm living on my own.

I grab a few of them that have delicious looking meals on the front, thinking that they're good enough for now. When I leave the section, I see the girl who had helped me earlier. When she turns toward me I wave, beginning to walk toward her. But she doesn't do anything back, instead she turns back around. Hmm... I guess I'll just go talk to her and quickly thank her.

The section she is in is the audiobook section, the shelves packed with CDs. "Um... hey... just wanted to thank you for showing me the way here..."

"Huh?" She turns back to me, seemingly thinking for a moment. "Oh you're the guy from before! Yeah, no problem!"

"Oh!" I say, seeing one of the CDs she's holding, "I love that book!"

"I'm sorry which one?"

"This one," I put my finger on it.

"Oh! Um... I'm sorry... I'm blind..." she explains, tensing up.

Now everything makes sense now... I feel inconsiderate now...

"Oh, but don't worry about it, but which book do you love?" She loosens up and holds the CDs in her hands so I can see them.

"Cry of the lake," I say softly, "I read it a few years ago, but I can still remember the story as if it's my own!"

"Oh really?! I can't wait to listen to it! I had heard it was really good from my friend!"

An awkward silence follows and she opens her mouth, but then closes it again.

"So... is you don't mind me asking..." I awkwardly say, to which she nods, giving me permission, "where you always blind?"

"Oh! Well, I wasn't... I was diagnosed with an eye disease that should slowly take away vision over 30 years, but mine progressed fast and I completely lost sight at seventeen..."

"Ah," I answer, not knowing what else to say.

"But I guess I'm lucky in the sense that I got to have a part in my life where I could see while other were born like this..."

"But wouldn't it be easier if you were used to it your whole life, not knowing what having it was like?" I say without thinking. "Oh god! I'm sorry if I offended you or something..."

"No, it's ok" she answers, another silence following.

"So... what got you into books..." I say, wanting to keep talking with her for some reason.

"Well, when I had my sight I loved to read, I even wanted to be an author," she says solemnly.

"What happened...?"

"When I lost my sight I thought I had to give up reading forever, in the beginning I hated audiobooks because it wasn't the same. I became depressed because I couldn't do what I loved the most plus a lot of other things, like cooking and watching movies. But then I guess I started to get used to it, and I realized I had to make the best of my situation. I began to write again and I tried audiobooks again and I found a passion again. I got back the freedom to do things! Like look at me! I can still be a normal person and still be myself!" She sighs and smiles warmly, a tear wanting to fall from her eyes.

I hear a loud buzz and the girl pulls out her phone, holding her finger down on the screen. "Lizzy: Hey Crystal! Want to come over right now? I bought a pizza!" An electronic voice says.

"Sorry I'm gonna go now, I hope to see you around," she says before walking off.

I simply wave before I realize what I'm doing and say a simple "bye," as she leaves.