[stylist] Story, "Help is On the Way"

[Vejas Vasiliauskas]

Hi All,
I really would like to get back to writing, so I have written the 
following piece, which I have attached as a Word document and 
will hopefully go into the email.
This is a very rough draft.  Any constructive criticism would be 
appreciated "as well as positive ones, obviously).  I feel that 
the potential main issue with this story is that I have made too 
much effort to prove a specific point about the center that is 
the main focus of this piece.
Enjoy!
Vejas
Help Is On the Way

by Vejas Vasiliauskas
Prologue
My name is Fiona Itube.  I'm 18 years old, and I live in 
Montpelier, Vermont.  I have been blind all my life, but beyond 
getting good grades in school, expectations weren't that 
important to my parents.  People all throughout my school career 
were always willing to let me hold their hands; my cane was 
always in my other hand, though I admit that I never learned to 
use it.
I was indifferent to receiving blindness training, and so were my 
parents.  It was really my teacher for the visually impaired, 
Ellie, who insisted I go.  I thought she was a nutty radical, but 
I applied for the Department of Rehab so that I could get into 
the Better Blind training center.
But I never knew what blindness training was, until I met Maddie 
Maddox.
Chapter 1
My start date was September 27.  My parents helped me set up.  I 
take that back, they set up for me, while I Whats-apped my best 
friend, Fern Allow.  Fern and I were supposed to have spent the 
summer together and all that, but then her parents decided that 
it would be really fun in Italy, so that's where they decided to 
go.
After my parents finished unpacking me, they hugged me.
"Welove you so much," Dad said.  "Let us know if you need 
anything."
"See if there's anyone you want to meet outside," Mom suggested.  
"You should bring your cane, it will probably make you look 
better."
I grabbed my cane and, sure enough, I didn't have to go far.  A 
girl walked up to me.
"Hi, I'm Francesca, call me Frankie," she said, but her tone of 
voice sounded cold.  Finally she asked, "Is that a stick?"
"Yes, it is," I explained, "but we call it a cane."
"Oh." She huffed.  "These.  So, you mean, you're totally blind."
"So?"
"Well," she said hesitantly, "I will explain this because you are 
new, but typically we don't regard you kind of people very well."
"Will I get bullied?"
"Not really bullied per se, but we're supposed to have one and 
it's quite a job.  I'm yours.  Whenever we have to go anywhere, I 
need to hold your hand to take you there.
"And also, we do have to use these things, but we call them 
sticks.  Canes, we consider way too radical."
Chapter 2
I got really used to the way of life at the center.  I learned 
and understood that, as a totally blind person, I would never be 
altogether too successful.  We were told our center's welcome 
sign over and over again.
Help Is on the Way For Blind People
What to Do to Get a Sighted Person's Attention
1.  Look lost, even if you know where you're going.
2.  Smile, always smile.  Maybe you will charm a sighted person 
into giving you a job.
3.  Accept the fact that this will always be your life.
We were also told that in a few years, surgery would allow us to 
gain sight and lead a better life.
Chapter 2
"Honey, I'm so, so sorry," Lesley Clockhammer, the director of 
the blindness center, told me as she looked at my apartment.  She 
looked around.  "Did Maggie clean your apartment?"
"Yes, she did," I said, "but I spilled grape juice all over and 
didn't know what to do."
"Oh, that's OK," Lesley laughed.  "I'll call her right now to get 
back and clean it up.  If I don't, we could have some problems." 
She sighed.  "Anyway, I'm so sorry but you are going to be 
getting a new roommate in a couple of hours.  Her name is Maddie 
Maddox and she is from St.  Albans, Vermont.  I know people like 
to have their privacy.  I'm so, so sorry."
Maddie impressed me from the start.  For starters, she didn't 
come with her parents.  Lesley and Maggie, the cleaner, fussed 
all over her.
"Nope, I can do it myself," Maddie said over, and over, and over 
again.
When they finally left, Maddie came over to my room.
"How's life here, Fiona?" she asked me.
"It's fine, I guess.  For a blindness training center."
"I really wanted to go to Ruston, Louisiana for the Louisiana 
Center for the Blind," Maddie explained.  "But my Department of 
Rehabilitation absolutely insistedon no.  My dad is friends with 
Lesley Clockhammer's husband, and they said I could come here for 
free! I hope that I at least can have some great experiences."
It didn't look like it.  Later, as the day progressed, I saw that 
there was very little that could satisfy Maddie Maddox.
"No," she insisted to her mentor, Davina.  "I don't need any 
help, thank you very much! I can walk to the dining hall all by 
myself."
"With this stick thing?"
"Yes, it's called a cane," Maddie said, "and it's here to help 
me.  Do you have any sight?"
"Some," Davina said meekly.
"I find it helps me and it should help you too," explained 
Maddie.  "That certainly beats stumbling around."
Davina retreated.
"I got what I wanted!" Maddie was happy.  "Fiona, you need to 
tell your mentor person similarly."
"I'm too scared to."
"Oh, come on, girl, you need to learn to speak up for yourself."
"Frankie," I said when she came by for dinner, "I would like to 
use my cane from now on.  Thank you for being my mentor."
"Suit yourself," she said and walked off.
"See? It was easy!" Maddie cheered.  "Let's go for dinner!"
Chapter 3
Julia Spinner, the kitchen instructor, came into our apartment at 
10 for kitchen class.  I was still sleeping.
"You missed breakfast," she said.  "No worries, though.  Do you 
want some privacy to change, or would you like me to dress you?"
>From the kitchen, Maddie snickered.
"I'll dress myself, thanks," I said.
"Cool.  I have a spinach cheddar bake for you to make."
"Spinach and cheddar is awesome!" Maddie said.  She was writing 
out an ingredients list for the center's grocery store on a 
large, old-fashioned typewriter-like machine.  "I love helping my 
mom make spinach quiche!"
Julia laughed.  "Oh, that's the funniest thing I've heard all 
day! No, you're supposed to put it in the oven for 45 minutes."
"Got it," I said.
 "Just curious," Maddie said, "but what are you having Fiona do 
for the next 45 minutes?"
"The waiting game," Julia explained patiently.  "As a blind 
person, you need to learn to spend more time waiting and less on 
your mobile devices."
Chapter 4
"I'm disgusted with this center!" Maddie ranted and raved that 
night.  "If I didn't have any self-motivation, I don't think I'd 
be anywhere! I was hoping that I could help others in a positive 
way, and, Fiona, you have come such a long way.  But I guess 
not."
Maddie had been lectured by Lesley Clockhammer that she was 
"overdoing it", and "expressing a form of free thinking which 
served as a threat to the center." But then Maddie calked down.
"I'm going to get permission to go to the National Federation of 
the Blind convention in Orlando this year," she twittered 
excitedly.  "I have always gone to them, and they are amazing! I 
learn so much?"
"How are you going to do that?" I asked.  You needed a day pass 
to go anywhere.
"Both of my grandparents are conviently going to die that day," 
Maddie explained, "so I have no option but to go to their 
funeral.  That's actually what my grandparent suggested.  There's 
no other way I can think of that the center would let me go."
"Don't you feel strange ly-?was
"You gotta do what you gotta do." Maddie sighed.  "But I can't 
believe that this is a 9-month program, and the convention is not 
for another 7."
"Tell me more about this NFB."
So that's what we talked about all night.  This organization 
wasn't full of crazy radicals; they actually wanted more 
expectations of blind students so that they could live a happy 
and fulfilled lifestyle.
Chapter 5
A month later, and I was even closer to Maddie.  On the outside, 
we did what was required: hold our mentors' hands and, in my 
case, that of my new mentor Caroline-thank God Frankie graduated.  
But on the outside, we did what we could.  We split the money to 
buy pots, pans and other everyday uses for the kitchen, so that 
we could cook for ourselves.  We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned, 
so much so that Maggie had nothing to do.  One day she told us 
that she hated this job, that she knew students could do much 
better, but coming to our apartment made her day.
It was an ordinary Saturday night when I was woken up by my phone 
vibrating to signalize a text from Maddie.
"Hi Fiona it's me.  I have decided to leave.  I just can't take 
it anymore.  I am going to fight for the Louisiana Center for the 
Blind and while I wait, I will do what I can.  Good luck.  Talk 
to me anytime."
And at that point I knew what to do.  I pulled out my suitcases 
and began to pack them.
The End
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