September 1st: I'm blind!

I woke up during the middle of the night, and as I rolled over in bed, I opened my eyes and realized something very important: I can't see. I can't see anything! My eyes are open, but all I can see is black.

"I'm blind!", I yell, turning my head in every direction. Not knowing what to do, I pull off the covers, jump out of bed, stand up, hit my head as hard as I can on the slanted ceiling, and then fall backwards back onto the bed.

"Ow, that hurt!", I yell, now holding my head with both hands as I lay back in bed. Just then I remembered that I sleep on the second floor of this cabin in Alaska, and the ceiling here is very low, especially on the sides of the room where it slants down at a steep angle.

After laying in bed for a few moments, I open my eyes again and try to look around, but I still can't see anything. Laying there I think, "I'm blind, and now my head really hurts." I stand up again -- more slowly this time -- and put my left hand on the ceiling so I won't hit my head again. Once I get around the corner of the bed, I put one hand on the bed, and try to work my way over to the top of the staircase. Once I get there, I put one hand on the wall, take a step on the first stair, and as I reach for the hand rail, I can't find it, and I very quickly fall down the entire flight of stairs.

Now laying in a ball at the bottom of the stairs with my feet over my head, I'm thinking, "Okay, I'm blind, I've got a lump on my head, and now my whole body hurts."

Just as I'm trying to figure out whether I have any broken bones or if I'm bleeding anywhere, there is a small knock on the front door, which I can now tell is somewhere behind my head. As I lay there in the darkness, with my legs somewhere over my head, I figure out how to untangle myself, and I move around until I'm kneeling next the door. I feel my way along the door until I found the door handle. Opening the door, I weakly say "Hello".

"Al, is that you?", Squirrel said, "I heard some loud noises."

"Yes, it's me", I said sadly. "And I'm blind, and my whole body hurts."

"I don't know why your body hurts, but you're probably not blind. It's just very dark out. This is the first night the sun has gone down all summer." Pausing for a moment, he says "Try turning on your light switch."

Despite the pain, I'm suddenly very excited to think that I might not be blind after all, so I desperately feel along the wall until I find the switch. Finding the switch, I turn the light on, and -- yes! "I can see!", I yell, "I can see!", and I have to cover my eyes because the light is so bright.

"That's good Al", Squirrel says. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be going back to bed. You should get a nightlight tomorrow, and some candles." With that, Squirrel disappeared back into the darkness of the forest. I close the door, and despite the pain, I'm very happy that I can see again.