Part 1: The last light
The last time Rory saw light was in the cool October morning of her thirteenth birthday. It was the day she would finally be escorted to her new forever home, a small wooden shed in the back of the woods. She remembered the feel of the soft moist ground beneath her, and the singing of the wind behind her ears. For one last time she also remembered the slight tingle of sunlight, that crept up through the mask she was wearing. Surprisingly, that last ray of sunshine didn’t hurt her.
They had told her parents six months ago, the doctors. They had gone early in the morning to her house to give her a check up exam. Her parents had been worried. Rory had been having awful headaches for weeks, and all she seemed to want to do was to sit in her bed with the blinds of the window shut tight, and the covers of her bed held high above her face.
Rory’s mother said that it must just be her being a teenager, but Rory’s father worried that it was something more medical. Maybe it was related to the thing they had seen on the news the previous day. Her mother shut the idea down immediately and told him that things like the ones they had seen on the news didn’t happen to regular
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people. They only happened in freak accidents. Either way, Rory’s dad
1 insisted the doctors come by. Rory’s mom eventually reluctantly
agreed.
Rory remembers hearing the doctors come in through the door downstairs that day. She heard some muffled sounds, a ‘hello’ and some quick introductions. She remembered breathing heavily under her protective blanket afraid to come out. Soon she heard footsteps coming up the creaky stairs of her home, and her door slowly opened.
“Hello.” She heard a soft voice say. She made a note that the unfamiliar calm tone had to be the doctor. She replied nervously.
“He-Hello,” her voice quivered. “are you here to give me a check up?” She turned to face the door but still hid under her blanket. She heard footsteps come close to her and as she slowly peered out of her blanket she saw a tall man with brown hair and soft blue eyes look down at her.
“So, Rory, what happens to be the problem here?” Rory slowly slid out of her blanket and looked up to the doctor squinting at him.
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“Well I-I can’t... You see if I go outside my head hurts, and then my eyes burn too.” Rory rubbed her eyes as she looked at the tall man. The doctor frowned.
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“How long has this been happening?” The doctor said in a soft voice. “For a month, yeah a month.” She said as she looked down to the floor.
“Alright Rory, I just need to do one thing.” The doctor said with an uneasy face. Rory nodded terrified.
“I’m going to open the blinds.” He said as he stood up and walked towards the window.
“NO!” Rory screamed. The doctor let out a sigh and walked back to her. He then put his hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry you have nothing to worry about; I just need to see a little better.” Rory was scared, but the doctor’s kind smile made her feel more at ease. She whispered okay, and with a smile the doctor began to walk back to the window. Bright rays of sun lit up the room. There was a scream heard throughout the house.
That evening, with a grim look on his face, the doctor walked down the stairs and down the hall to where Rory’s parents were sitting. He sat down too. Reluctantly he explained to them the
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situation. Rory had it. The disease. The one that had been on the news. Rory’s parents looked at him in disbelief. Nevertheless he said all the signs were there. He said they should be careful. He said the government wasn’t sure yet how it was spreading, only that light increasingly incapacitated the patients, and that it seemed to be contagious.
The doctor mentioned to Rory’s parents that the disease gets worse with time. Eventually, any visual exposure to daylight could kill her. Rory’s mother began to shed tears. The doctor mentioned many people had taken to building small homes near their houses for people with the disease. The sheds were built so no light was able to enter them. The doctor handed Rory’s parents a card. He said that the government had been paying for the anti light sheds since they were expensive and that the government would pay for theirs too. That way Rory may be able to stay alive while they tried to find a cure.
That late evening in September the doctor left, looking as pale and grim as Rory’s parents. A week later, government officials showed up to build the light shed. By October it was time for Rory to move in. They had gifted her a mask that would help keep the light away while she was walked to the shed. That day she felt the moist earth beneath her feet, and the singing of the wind behind her ears. She also felt a ray of sunshine creep up beneath her mask. Surprisingly, that last ray of sunshine didn’t hurt her.
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