Walk
I opened my eyes and cursed.
Finding the physical border had been easy, even without my canine friend. The path took me around the hill and shot out from between a thicket right onto the main road we’d used coming in. In daylight, it seemed downright cheerful. I was hopeful. I was confident. I was a fool.
It sounded like it should have been easy, walking forward with my eyes closed.
A frustrated laugh escaped me. It was almost impossible. The first time, my feet stopped by themselves after five steps. I shook myself, sure I was being silly and could do better. The second time, I forced myself to take eight before my eyes shot open. Certainly it could be done. I’d seen Paul go through it. I didn’t know it at the time, but he must have Walked that whole stretch with his eyes closed, just like I was supposed to. I just didn’t trust the world around me enough.
Maybe I was the only Walker in the world who couldn’t properly Walk.
Huffing, I closed my eyes and tried again. For the first second, the undeniability of what was around me stuck to the inside of my eyelids. A tall pine on the left, a rock, six stumps in a row, a fallen branch. As soon as I started walking, it blurred into a haze and seemed to lift away from me, leaving only darkness behind. The change startled me, and I opened my eyes. Seven.
I closed my eyes and tried again. A tall pine on the left, a rock, six stumps in a row, a fallen branch. Reality shifted under my fingers. A tug in my gut pulled me forward. The terror of losing control over the world around me froze my feet. Ten. I opened my eyes and howled in frustration.
My fear was a ridiculous one, and I was ashamed of myself for it. My friends were in danger while I was flapping about, playing make-believe. Eyes open or closed, there was no control to be had over this world or any other. It had shown me that over and over again, and I simply refused to learn. The ground could open at any time under my feet whether I was looking at it or not. That was no excuse to stop moving forward.
I closed my eyes.