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Warning: The following story was written from a dream of the author who has embroidered and filled out the story for your consumption.



The sunlight dazzled my eyes. The grass was bright and green and the air smelled like lawn clippings. We squealed as we tossed the ball back and forth. It flew red against the warm blue of the sky.

A cold breeze blew. I stumbled to the ground. All around was a sudden silence and all I could hear was the soft bounce of the ball on the grass. My hands felt numb and I heard my heart throbbing in my ears.

One of the other children moaned. I looked up and saw only a darkness that cast a shadow over everything. Something dark slithered over the gray grass to me and lifted its pale face. I could see the dark streaks of dirt that marked her cheeks.

“I can't see.” Desperation echoed in the plaintive voice of the child.

I waved my hand in front of my face. It was a pale blur. “I can't see much either,” I said.

I felt Mother's cool hands lifting me up. “Shhh, honey,” she whispered comfortingly into my ear as she hugged me. She carried me inside, my head pressed against her. Mother laid me on the couch and reached over me to close the curtains. Her cotton summer dress brushed my cheek. My eyes flickered open, but caught no light. Inside was just as dark and colorless as outside. Mother's dress was no longer a yellow-flowered print, but pale gray.


There was no sunset, no night, no dawn. The next day, by the clock, was just as the previous day ended. Dark. Dreary.

“I'm just going outside to explore a bit,” I told her. Mother looked at me, worried. She wiped her floury hands over and over on her apron. I smiled at her as I pulled on my shoes.

I didn't remember the forest of snaky, twisted vines I pushed through. They hung limply from the branches of the young trees and swayed in the breeze. I stumbled and fell face first by the roots of a tree. I slid down halfway into a cave where the tree roots had rotted away. I raised my smarting face.

In front of me was treasure. Bright crystals glowed in twisted metal settings. I scooped them towards me, their heavy chain links clinking. I wriggled back out of the cavity and ran home, chains trailing behind me. The treasure was heavy in my arms and a black metal skull with glowing jewel eyes stared up at me from my heap.

I put my treasure down while I rested. The jewels glowed so brightly and prettily, that I raised one close to my face. I looked through it and I saw...

Light. The world was light again when seen through the crystal.

I bounced up, no longer tired.


Everyone used one of the crystals now to see, the black metal crawling on their faces, their eyes covered by luminous gems. We could see again. My crystal was a bright green set in a black spiderweb. At first the green tinted everything I saw, but now I no longer even noticed. The setting still felt heavy on my face though.

I sat with my back to a tree. The sunlight shone down, amplified by my crystal eye and made me drowsy. I took off the treasure bit, so I could sleep. I laid it carefully on the ground next to me. As I dropped asleep, the image of its small, winking green light in the grayness burned into my mind.

I opened my eyes again and yawned. I reached for the crystal eye, but my hand stopped halfway. The green gem winked at me evilly. The twisted black metal shone in its light. I grabbed it, my fingers twining around the setting, pulling at it with a desperation I couldn't understand. But the metal was unmovable, unbreakable. I threw it to the ground and stomped on it until the crystal was crushed into lifeless fragments.

I ran home through the darkness.

“Destroy the crystal eyes! They're evil; they caused the world to go dark in the first place. Destroy them!”

“Don't be silly,” said my brother, “The crystal eyes help us to see.”

Mother looked at me and shook her head, her features hidden by the mask with its single gem. “Honey,” she said and ran her fingers through my hair.

“But,” objected a playmate, “You were the one that found them for us.” I looked at her. If her usual streaked face was there under the metal setting of her gem, I couldn't tell.