[stylist] Fiction Short Story Hindsight

[Shelley Alongi]

Hi Jennifer, 

Thank you for submitting your story. My first question is what is the point of the story? Are you trying to get her from having site and then gaining confidence? If that is the case, you have done an admirable job. I would suggest two things: number one is to shorten your sentences and number two is to eliminate the detail about colors. If you are using those to show that she has site, many riders do not include them although sometimes I wish they would. But, if you want to then start with those two ideas and work toward adding them at key moments. Sometimes, I think that adding lots of detail distracts from the story. It takes some practice. We all like detailed and very good writers are excellent at adding them when necessary.

Let's see what others say about editing your story. I can give this a second reading and see which events might need some work. I would start with just shortening the sentences, rearranging them, and taking out some of the detail. Sometimes, all that needs to be done to shorten the word count is just simple re-arranging of sentences. One thing you might consider is taking out any  as um. This is a filler word. I have read many books written in different times and I have never seen that word in dialogue. So if you take out such filler words that will also help.

Writing a story is hard work. But it is always Worth it. Some people write very good poetry and do not write fiction. I write fiction and do not excel at poetry. Once in a while I do but I don't practice to improve my poetry. I'm just saying that some people write some things much better than others and I know you submit a lot of poetry here. I will be happy to give this a second reading and see if I can make more suggestions. I will look forward to seeing what others suggest as well.

shelley Queen of Bells out Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 6, 2016, at 11:10 AM, Jennifer Applegate via stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> 
> 
> I would appreciate some constructive feedback on my fiction story. I am also
> trying to figure out how to cut about 1,800 words, so I appreciate any
> suggestions about cutting areas that are not important to the story.
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> 
> 
> Jennifer Applegate
> 
> 
> 
> Hindsight
> 
>     In 1988, yellow warn leaves lined the black asphalt parking lot, as  a
> beautiful blue-eyed, blond hair, eight year old girl, Kelley, was dropped
> off at school by her handsome, blue-eyed, brown hair, middle aged    dad.
> the passenger seatbelt clicked off, and the door of her family's dark blue
> Ford Aerostar van quickly opened.  Kelley's dad said, "See you later
> alligator.  I hope you have a great day.  I love you!" "Bye daddy.  I hope
> today is fun.  Love you too!"  A soft yellow v-neck short sleeve shirt and
> dark brown jeans with a matching brown backpack adorned her, as she walked
> with pep in her step down the sidewalk past the red, white, and blue flag
> pole, until she approached the one story bright yellow brick building.  As
> the door opened in front of her, she felt a rush of cool air.  Teal, her
> best friend, said, "You look nice today."  "Thanks!"  They entered the
> school building and quickly walked to the Cafeteria to wait for the first
> period bell.  Kelley asked, "So, um, did you get all your homework done?"
> "Yeah.  How bout you?"  "Um, yeah.  My mom helped me with my math homework -
> getting ready for that hard math quiz.  I'm slow writing answers.  She made
> me say my answers super fast.  It helps me get faster."  Teal asked, "You
> excited bout art today?"  "Uh, I'm always excited bout art class, it's my
> favorite."  She had a fun morning of classes, recess, and lunch, but by the
> afternoon she heard a loud sound of thunder and rain.
> 
>     Now in English class, Kelley paused at her teacher's desk to gaze at
> family picture frames, along with a red apple, miniature patriotic flag,
> black plaque with "Readers are Leaders.", and red leather bible engraved
> with the scriptures, Philippians 4:16 and Jeremiah 29:11.  To the left of
> the desk, she saw a black chalkboard with the words, "Mrs. Tostada's English
> Class."  She walked past a few rows of tables noticing other classmate's
> bright colored backpacks. She sat down at the desk in the back, and put down
> her brown backpack.
> 
>     Kelley gazed at the pastel colored pearl bracelet on her right wrist, a
> present from her mom, and thought about her recent adventurous birthday on
> June sixth.  After swim team practice at Teal's neighborhood country club,
> Kelley opened the side door of her family's dark blue van in the parking
> lot. With a bright red face, she asked her friends, "What are all of you
> doing in here?"  "Surprise!  We are going with you and your mom to the beach
> in Galveston."  Upon first arriving at the beach, she smoothed a chunk of
> sunscreen into her pale white skin.  Next, she sat her pink beach bag next
> to two green wood chairs decorated with palm trees.  She sat in one of them,
> while she played Uno and Go Fish with one friend, Meagan.  Later, she dipped
> her toes into the cold blue ocean water.  Suddenly, she saw her other
> friends standing next to a huge sandcastle, with the words happy birthday
> carved on the front  , and shells sticking out the top.  She played in the
> ocean with them for a few hours until lunch time.  Everyone ate pizza, and
> Kelley ate cheese mushroom, her favorite.  At TCBy, where her cousin Amy
> worked, they mingled at their table, while they waited for ice cream and
> cake.  Kelley's face illuminated with a big smile, as her eyes   opened wide
> at a large rectangular chocolate cake decorated like a beach scene with
> eight lit candles.  She gasped out air, as she wished about her family's
> next vacation destination.
> 
> Kelley looked down at her yellow leather strap watch on her left wrist.
> Mrs. Tostada took attendance when class began, and Kelley raised her hand to
> notify she was present.  Then  Mrs. Tostada said, "Everyone needs to look at
> the chalkboard, as I have written some questions for you to answer about
> today's reading of chapter one of "Dare To Dream."  She asked, "Can everyone
> see my questions from where they're sitting?"  "Yees!" said the students.
> "Great.  After everyone is done reading and answering the questions, we will
> discuss them."  Squinting to see the chalkboard, Kelley leaned forward with
> her elbows on the table trying her best to see it.  The teacher's writing
> was blurry like a camera lens out of focus.  She slowly opened her book on
> the rectangular wooden desk, took her patriotic bookmark out of it, and
> started reading the assigned chapter.  Turning every page slowly with a
> pause, she glanced down at her watch.  Mrs. Tostada said "Okay class, it is
> time to discuss the answers.  Kelly, what was your answer for the second
> question?"  Looking down, she replied, "Um, I d-d-don't know."  "Are you
> sure you don't know?"  "Um, I d-d-don't know."  Mrs. Tostada was puzzled by
> her hesitant response, as Kelley was one of her brightest students.
> 
>     After class, Mrs. Tostada asked Kelley to stay for a moment.  Mrs.
> Tostada asked, "Was there something wrong?"  "Um, uh, I couldn't see your
> writing on the board.  It was fuzzy."  "Why didn't you speak up when I asked
> if everyone could see the questions I wrote?"  "I said 'yees' with my
> friends."  "Why didn't you just say 'no' if you couldn't see the writing on
> the board?"  Kelley hesitated, "I don't like feeling different."  Mrs.
> Tostada was taken back with Kelley's response, and she suspected that Kelley
> might be nearsighted.
> 
>     After school, Kelly's parents picked her up and informed her that Mrs.
> Tostada called to let them know about her difficulty seeing the chalkboard.
> Kelley sat silently in the family's van, as they  rushed through traffic to
> get to their family optometrist to have her eyes examined. As Kelley waited
> with her parents for the examination, her face became bright red as she
> crossed her arms and feet, and her hands began to sweat while her legs were
> shaking.  A few minutes passed.  Knock knock knock.  A big man with dark
> hair and glasses entered the room.   He sat down close to her, reached out
> his hand, and he said, "Hi, I am Doctor Glenze.  Your outfit is pretty.  How
> are you today, Kelley?"  "Um, I'm a bit cold, but I'm fine."  "There's
> nothing to be nervous about.  I'll try my best to make this examination as
> quick and painless as possible.  You know, I have a daughter with blue eyes
> too.  There are some letters on the wall, and I want you to attempt to read
> them with one eye at a time.  Kelley placed the long stick with a black
> circle patch over her left eye, and saw three big blurry black horizontal
> lines connected to a vertical line towards the top middle of the wall.  Her
> face became bright red, as she said, "I think it's the 'B'."  She covered
> her right eye, and she began to see one big blurry black horizontal line
> connected to a vertical line.  Again, her face turned bright red, as she
> said, "I think it's an 'l'."  After this part of the examination was done,
> Dr. Glenze said "You have difficulty seeing at a distance.  Some people can
> see great up close like you, but have difficulty seeing at a distance.
> Other people have difficulty seeing up close.  To help people see their
> best, we give them glasses.  You'll need to get glasses, so you can see the
> best you can.  We have a large selection of them, and I'm sure your parents
> can help you find the coolest prettiest looking ones."   Dr. Glenze did the
> rest of the examination including checking her peripheral vision manually.
> Afterwards, Dr. Glenze said, "Kelly, would you like to play some games in
> the waiting area while I talk with your parents?"  "I don't want to play
> games. I need to take a  nap."  The door squeaked, as she left the room.
> Dr. Glenze said to her parents, "She appears to have  Retinitis Pigmentosa.
> I suggest getting a second opinion to make sure."  Kelly's mother said "A
> second opinion?  What is this you suspect she has?"  "RP is a retina disease
> that first attacks night and peripheral vision, and then it attacks central
> along with color vision."  Kelley's mom said, "Near-sightedness runs in my
> family, but this doesn't."  He responded, "I can refer y'all to Dr.
> Gonzales, who specializes in genetics and RP."
> 
> While the doctor talked with the parents, Kelly drifted off to fairytale
> dream land.  All of the sudden, she was a lifeguard on a beautiful white
> beach in Oahu, gazing at the pink golden sun set.  Sitting on her white
> chair, wearing a bright red swim suit, she scanned the ocean from a long
> distance away as she normally would.  Suddenly, she noticed a boy who looked
> no older than six, with red hair, wearing a navy swimsuit, chasing and
> swimming after his float that was drifting away.  He had gone against his
> mom's rules for when they were in the ocean.  As the waves got faster and
> stronger, a panic came over the mom, and she screamed for help.  Since the
> other lifeguards had left for the evening, Kelly had to solve this dangerous
> situation.  So, she grabbed her lifeguard gear, ran through the sand as fast
> as a sprint runner, swam as fast as a mermaid, reached the boy, and brought
> him back to shore.  He and his mom were so grateful, as tears of joy rolled
> down their faces along with smiles.  His mom said, "Who knows what would
> have happened if you had not been there.  I am so grateful that you rescued
> my son's life.  How can I ever repay you?"  She said, "Cherish the moments
> you have with your son for the rest of your life.  Live life to the fullest
> every day, and be thankful for each day he has."
> 
> "Kelley! Kelley! Kelley! Come on honey, wake up."  After some nudging from
> her mom, she woke up.  Her parents said, "Time to go find you glasses."  "I
> hope I don't look like a nerd." "You'll find the coolest and prettiest
> looking ones.  The frames will be your favorite color!"  Although, she did
> not like every pair she tried on, pretending to be someone else with each
> pair she wore was fun.  After half an hour passed, she narrowed her options
> to three pairs; purple, sparkly pink, and light green.  Her parents smiled
> and nodded with each pair she wore.   Kelley decided on the pink pair, and
> Her parent's gave her an approving look.  As she waited at the checkout
> counter with her parents for them to buy her new glasses, Kelly thought,
> "These must cost a lot."  Even though they were not wealthy, with only one
> parent working, when one of their two children needed something, they had
> enough money to buy it.
> 
>     Afterward, they rushed through more traffic to the office of Dr.
> Gonzales.  He ran multiple tests including electroretinography and
> peripheral vision.  While Kelly sat in a dark room, she pressed her chin and
> forehead against a machine and occasionally clicked a button when she saw a
> bright red flashing dot.  Exhausted, she fell asleep half way through the
> examination.  At the end of this exhausting day, her parents sat in a white
> hospital room and waited for the doctor to return.  Dr. Gonzales said, "How
> are y'all doing this afternoon?  "This afternoon has been long."  "Can I
> offer you something to drink?"  "Water is fine."  He pulled two cold water
> bottles out of his mini refrigerator and handed the bottles to them .  "I'm
> so sorry to have to tell y'all this, but she does have RP.  Does anyone on
> either side of your families have this?"  They stared at each other and then
> replied, "No."  "This RP is recessive, and it's rare."  They asked "How fast
> will it progress?"  He explained that it progresses in each person's eyes
> randomly throughout their life.  After talking with him, they sat down on
> black leather chairs in the waiting area and weaped loudly.
> 
>     Kelley slowly opened her eyes and thought, "It's as dark as a haunted
> house in here.  Where are my parents? What is that loud noise outside of
> this door?"  So she left the room and asked the testing assistant where her
> parents were.  The nice older woman pointed Kelley in the right direction,
> towards where the black chairs were.  As Kelley arrived there, she could see
> tears drooping down their faces, and she asked, "What are y'all crying
> about?"  "Doctor Gonzales told us some bad news about your eyes, and we are
> not sure what will happen."  He told us he needs to monitor your eyes every
> year."  "Oh nooo, I've got to go through this long uncomfortable testing
> every year?  Can I get a day off from school?  Will y'all treat me to my
> favorite food every time I've got to get tested?"  Her parent's mood
> lightened.
> 
>     Once they had digested the bad news, they reached out to family and
> friends.  Her mom called Kelley's aunt, Molly, to tell her where they were
> and to ask if she could come to the hospital.  She did not hesitate to come,
> even though it was an hour drive from her home.  She arrived at the
> hospital, and as Kelly's parents looked through the glass window they said,
> "There is your favorite aunt's green van in the parking lot."  "Great, I
> love spending time with her.  She is so fun."   Before her aunt could open
> the van door, Kelley and her parents walked through the lobby's front door
> to meet her.  Molly said, "Hi Kelley.  I love you!"  "Hi Aunt Molly.  I am
> glad to see you.  Love you too!"  They hugged each other.  Molly said to her
> parents, "I'm going to give y'all time alone, while we go do something fun
> for a few hours."  "Thanks."  Kelley said, "Bye, I'll see y'all later."
> 
>     Kelley climbed into her aunt's van, and buckled her seatbelt.  She
> heard her aunt clicking on her seatbelt, as Aunt Molly said, "Where would
> you like to go?"  "Chucky Cheese!"  Aunt Molly said, "Okay, but first
> there's something that I'd like to show you."  "What?"  "It's the house I
> and your mom grew up in.  It's not that far from here."  "Okay."  Aunt Molly
> pointed out their old two-story home.  I'm sure your mom has told you some
> stories about us when we were kids." "Yes".  Did she tell you about how we
> used to chase each other around the upstairs area after school, with an old
> corded telephone on both ends, trying to reach our mom at work, to tattle
> tale on each other?"  "Yes, that reminds me of how me and Dillon, little
> bro, chased each other around our old home."  Did she tell you about having
> to share a bathroom with me?"  "Somewhat.  She said you took a long time
> getting ready for school."  "She got ready real fast.  I suspected she
> didn't wash her hair."  Kelley giggled.  "There are so many memories in that
> house, but we'll have to save this discussion for later."  As her aunt put
> her finger on the button of the radio, Kelley said, "I like to play the
> alphabet game when I'm in my family's van.  Can we play it?"  Well, tell me
> how you play it."  "See the car in front of your van?"  "Yes."  Every time
> you see a letter of the alphabet on a car, you say, "got it, and something
> associated with that letter."  Aunt Molly agreed to play it, and they played
> all the way to the parking lot of Chuck E. Cheese.  This was one of Kelley's
> favorite places to go, as they had lots of kids' games including skit ball.
> Kelley loved to play skit ball for a long time, and save up her tickets for
> great prizes.  She saw her aunt playing next to her.  She thought, "Is she
> playing to help win more tickets?"  Kelley finished playing, and she
> surveyed the prize options underneath the glass counter along with prizes on
> shelves behind it.  She saw stuffed bears for 75 tickets, and she stared at
> a pretty pink one with a red ribbon bow.  Kelley counted her orange tickets,
> hoping there were enough, but there were only fifty.  Kelly looked at her
> favorite aunt with a big smile, and Molly said, "Here's another 25 tickets,
> enough to get the bear.  Do you want anything to eat before we leave?"
> "Yes!  I'd like some cheese pizza, cinnamon dessert pizza with icing, and a
> chocolate frosty."  After they ate, Aunt Molly said, "You are quiet.  Are
> you worried about something?"  "I'm worried about what the kids at school
> will say when they see me wearing glasses.  What if rumors are spread about
> me?  What if someone calls me a nerd?"  "Your close friends will be okay
> with your glasses.  That's only what matters.  Your mom wore glasses in
> school too.  I'm sure she could help you deal with it."  Kelley thought,
> "What if I can't see to play skit ball one day? I'll miss out on the fun."
> After they talked, Aunt Molly drove her home.
> 
> Her aunt pulled up to her family's home, a two story reddish-pink brick
> building with a wood bench on the front porch, colorful flowers and green
> bushes, long winding driveway with a big oak tree to the right of it, and a
> two car garage.  Kelley waved bye to her aunt, and she walked through the
> front door without knocking.  As she walked past the living room, she saw
> her family's close friends and her parents sitting at their breakfast table
> with paper plates and food remains.  She wondered what they were doing at
> her home this late.  Kelley sat next to her mom.  Everyone held hands, with
> their eyes closed, and Kelley heard everyone praying for God to watch over
> her eye situation.  She felt so loved.
> 
> Fearful about not knowing when their daughter would go blind; these parents
> made it their mission to take Kelley on a family road trip during Christmas
> break, to visit places of interest and extended family.  As the vacation
> started, her face was illuminated and her eyes were drawn to beauty outside
> the window of their van.  They headed out of Houston with their luggage and
> presents in the back of the van, favorite games, music CDs, cooler loaded
> with snacks, favorite pillows, and Kelley's soft pink blanket.  Their
> adventure started by traveling to Alabama to visit the space center museum.
> Along the way the sun faded into night, and Kelley fell asleep.  She dreamed
> she was in outer space on a special mission assignment.  It was her job to
> help others working on the mission and navigate the shuttle to their
> destination once in outer space.  She was not scared of the dark, as she had
> radar night vision and special glow in the dark goggles.  With others
> relying on her leadership, she rose to the challenge.  She thought back to
> her training days preparing her for the worst, and what caused her to do
> this kind of work, how she loved to learn science and geography as a kid.
> However, after being away from her family for two weeks, she longed to
> return home to her husband and beautiful little girl.  So, the mission
> assignment was successful, and the shuttle of astronauts headed back to
> earth, landing in Houston.  Kelley woke up, and asked "Are we there yet?"
> The next day they had a blast touring the space center.  Then it was on to
> Georgia, where her mom's relatives lived.  They lived on a farm and
> supported themselves by selling chickens to McDonald's.  Their kids were
> around the same age, and they were a blast to play bowling with, explore the
> farm, and learn to make peach cobbler with.  Their road trip ended with
> visiting her mom's brother, Uncle James, in Washington DC.  He worked for
> the Subway transportation system and knew all about historical places for
> them to visit.  While staying in Washington DC, Kelley caught a cold.  Each
> morning she woke up barely breathing, as her nose was stopped up.  However,
> she was excited about getting to visit museums and buildings where
> politicians worked, so her dad gave her some NyQuil to help Kelly get
> through the day's activities.  They toured the capital building, and as they
> toured the Smithsonian Museum, Kelley located a bench to lie down on.
> Another dream began and this time it was about being the daughter of a
> president.  She wanted to get out of the house to go to the local mall, but
> the body guards were everywhere.  She came up with a plan to sneak out
> without them noticing.  About an hour later her dad asked the guards where
> she was.  They said, "We last saw her in her bedroom.  She must have snuck
> out without us noticing."  Her dad said, "Well, you must track her down.
> The mall down the street is her favorite place to hang out.  They searched
> her favorite clothing stores, found her, and brought her home.  Upon seeing
> Kelly, her dad gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek.
> 
> "Kelley! Kelley! Kelley! wake up.  It's time to go see the Wizard of Oz
> memorabilia."  That night back at Uncle James's home, her mom said to
> Kelley's dad, "You've been drugging her!  How could you give her the wrong
> dosage of NyQuil?  No wonder she was so sleepy during our site seeing
> today!"  "It was an accident.  I must have misread the required dosage."
> "Do you need new glasses?"  Although Kelley was sleepy and sick, she had
> good memories of sightseeing with her family.  She loved learning about
> government in school, and visiting Washington D.C. was a dream come true.
> 
>     In the tenth grade, Kelley struggled to fit in, learn to drive, and
> learn math.  She sat at the front of classrooms, was given hard copies of
> overhead notes, was allowed extra time to take tests in a separate room, and
> wore glasses or contacts every day.  She had begun to become independent,
> but she couldn't drive at night due to her night vision getting worse, which
> meant she had to rely on her parents to drive her to church related
> activities.  Kelley thought about her first day as a senior in high school.
> She sat in the senior lunch room waiting for first period to start.  She
> realized she was in the wrong class, Water Polo, and she walked quickly
> across the campus, up stairs to find her math class.  She kept walking past
> the classroom, as her contacts were blurry.  Her teacher noticed her, and
> said, "Glad you found the class."  She sat down in the front row of chairs
> with her red cheeks displayed.  During the graduation ceremony, she got lost
> finding her seat after walking across the podium.
> 
> When she was a freshman in college, she only had limited central vision.
> Kelley knew about services for students with disabilities, but she didn't
> seek them.  She thought to herself, "You can still see good enough to read
> regular print.  You don't need special services."  However, she struggled to
> keep up with large amounts of homework reading assignments, as her eyes
> became tired.  She also had difficulty navigating the college campus.
> Relying on residual vision, Kelley thought, "Only ten more stairs to go up
> in order to get in the building where her math class was, and only five more
> stairs to get inside the on-campus dorm."  As she tripped over the curb
> before the stairs, Kelly thought, "Ut oh, ow, another scraped bloody knee. I
> don't want anyone to notice it, so I better get to my room quick and get out
> my safety aid kit."  After an unsuccessful first year of college, she
> retreated back to home, where she remained fearful of failure and grieved
> for nearly five  years.  Even when her mom tried to encourage her to go back
> to school, by providing her the opportunity to tour the adaptive lab at the
> junior college near their home, this didn't help her to move forward with
> life, because she couldn't see past her problems. She thought, "I don't want
> to risk failing again. I thought I'd always have sight, and now I don't.
> Why me?  How could a loving God allow me to go blind."
> 
> When Kelley was twenty four, her parents had had enough of the status quo
> with her.  Kelley sat on the maroon leather sofa in the living room, as she
> watched television for hours, ate junk food, and eavesdropped on phone calls
> her parents had with other family.  Kelley thought, "Life's great not having
> to think about reality."  Her parents thought, "You have much to contribute
> to society, but you can't do this sitting here, living in la-la land.  You
> aren't a mistake.  God has a purpose and plan for your life."  They laid
> down the rules that she would have to get some help from Department of
> Rehabilitation Services, and figure out how to move forward with her life.
> As Kelley heard these harsh rules, she retreated to the back porch, and
> began to cry uncontrollably.  She thought, "These were the parents that
> cried when I was diagnosed with RP, and were supposed to always be there for
> me.  Where were they when I needed them the most?"  She felt heaviness come
> over her body and mind, as if she couldn't move.  Then she heard words she
> thought she'd never hear, "If you don't stop crying, we'll have to send you
> to the mental hospital."  A lot of verbal battles between Kelley and her
> parents occurred, but she eventually flew to Minnesota without them to
> receive much needed blindness training.
> 
>     6 months later, Kelley possessed alternative blindness skills. She
> could read and write braille, use screen reader software to complete tasks
> within Microsoft Office, use other adaptive equipment to listen to books,
> and walk with a white cain. She also possessed a new perspective on how
> blind people could do almost anything their sighted counterparts could given
> the proper training and right opportunity.  Though she had experienced other
> blind people living productive purposeful lives, she wasn't ready to move
> forward with her life. During her training she developed an eating disorder,
> and she had to be flown home on emergency. Her parents forced her to either
> go into a rehab center or go to therapy.  So, she began what seemed like the
> longest year of her life in therapy.  It started out dealing with the root
> cause of her eating disorder, but transitioned to dealing with the issue she
> had never come to terms with, her blindness, which caused depression and
> anxiety. By month ten, she wanted no more therapy, and had devised a secret
> plan to go back to college.  However, her parents found out about it, when
> she called to get her transcript transferred to the junior college near her
> parent's home, because the college wouldn't release it due to an overdue
> library charge of one hundred dollars.  The books couldn't be found, so
> Kelley and her parents agreed to split the fee.  Suddenly, memories of her
> unsuccessful first year of college due to being in denial about her vision
> came back to her.
> 
> As a confident self-advocate, she awaited the start of her first semester in
> college as a student who is blind.  The night before her first day of
> classes, she pondered, "What will students and faculty think and say about
> me?"  She thought, "Could I be successful with the pace of school work?"
> She wondered, "Would professors work with  me on accommodations, or would
> they be resistant?"  Even though there were feelings of fear and anxiety,
> she held her head high, as she pictured in her mind the red, white, and blue
> flag she saw as an eight year old girl.  It had an additional meaning to
> her, as she thought, "Independence and equality for all blind people."  She
> entered the college building and navigated her way to the classroom relying
> on her White Cain and her memory of orientation and mobility training.
> Kelly touched braille to the left of the classroom door to confirm it was
> the right room, and it was.  Kelley was about fifteen minutes early, so she
> located the bathroom and water fountain.     Now back in the classroom, she
> located a seat in the front row and put her stuff down, as she was ready to
> learn.  Kelley realized she still didn't know what her future would hold,
> but it was okay not to know, because she was on the journey God had planned
> her to be on.  He truly had reversed the destiny of her life; a girl who had
> thought about ending the overwhelming pain.  Though He had not physically
> healed her eyes, He had healed her inner self.
> 
> 
> 
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