In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man Is Crazy

“Poor child.” The words echoed, dusty, resurrected from distant memory. “Born with hypersensitivia. How sad that we have discovered only now, when it is too late to really treat.”

“Now now” a calm male voice chimed in. “He can still live a normal, active life, as long as his hallucinations do not interfere with his ability to think and reason. For now, have him take these.”

“Will they prevent the hallucinations entirely?”

“I cannot make any guarantees; however, they should keep him from slipping too deep.” A brief pause. “Let me know if his condition worsens after puberty. For now, this is all we can do.”

Adam remembered the first time they appeared. At first it was subtle. Suddenly, heavy and light textures would mix into his perception, as if his very brain was betraying him. The experience was indescribable – like the warm touch of carpet, with different striations and details that would slowly become more and more apparent. They seemed friendly and inviting, but he was told not to embrace the hallucinations. Your eyes, they said – there is something wrong with your eyes.

It didn’t feel wrong, Adam thought. But then, it never did. Insanity, that is. They say that those who are insane can never admit it. That’s why he took the pills. They kept the visions away. His hands moved to the bottle in his hand, thumb roving over the patterns engraved in the side. Still, that was before, when he was a child. Today he was alone. Today he would not take them. He had to know.

Had to know if he was crazy.

First there were the withdrawals. He tossed and turned in bed, the covers thrown back with the force of his gestures. His hand hit the nightstand, and he cried out in pain. It was many hours before he could sleep, and even then it was a cold, nightmarish sleep, full of strange dreams. He dreamt of cold concrete, of a ramp that he could never quite reach the top of. In his dream, he felt the hallucinations begin to come, and the top of the ramp was suddenly perceivable, almost as if he could feel it before he was there. He woke with a fury, sitting upright with such vigor that his heart pounded with adrenaline.

What had woken him was incredible. The strange feelings that he had once experienced as a child had returned, strong as ever. It was as if he had suddenly sprouted thousands of extra hands, and they were all roving over every object in the room simultaneously. Still, the sensation was nothing like touch. He couldn’t tell the temperature of the nightstand, nor the texture of the walls, but he knew they were there. He knew where everything was. He took a step forward, cane in hand. Then another, and another. He marched through the doorway out into the kitchen, still invigorated with his experience. Wishing to try this new ability, he kicked the doorpedal and, surprised by the sudden intensity of the day, screamed.

Even as the heat from the day flooded in, Adam’s whole body shuddered with fear. The hallucinations had suddenly ten thousand times more vivid, and he felt as though his mind was being inundated by a smooth, constant stream of sound, like a high note on a clarinet being played for an impossibly long time. The strange feeling did not subside, but slowly he felt the notes disassemble themselves. Like the harmonies of some great magnum opus, different parts of the sensation separated and made plain their differences. He knocked against the door, and obediently it swung open further, granting him a plane of vision that was totally incomprehensible.

It was reckless, he knew, but Adam detached the cane from his wrist entirely and threw it aside. Somehow, he thought, I don’t think I’ll need it. It was with a great, joyous cry that he flew down the ramp into the street, probing in any and every direction with his newfound sense. No one was around, and who could blame them? Only the bravest of athletes would get up this early in the day cycle, when the heat was at its strongest. With the ululation of a madman, Adam shuffled back and forth, picking his feet up more than he had ever dared before. Recklessly he began to walk. Slowly at first, then with increasing speed, eventually moving so fast that only one foot was on the ground at a time. With the wind rushing past his ears, he cried out one last time.

“I CAN SEE!”